
Milo to use $190K from fund balance for school budget increase
MILO — A week after voters approved an $11,500,911 SAD 41 budget for 2025-26 by a single vote at 151-150, Milo residents approved using $190,000 from fund balance to cover the increase in the town’s share of the school budget.
“We committed our taxes before the school budget was finalized because, without any idea when it would be done, we needed to get our tax bills out,” Select Chair Paula Copeland said during a public hearing as part of a special town meeting on Aug. 13.
The SAD 41 budget was approved 55-54 in Brownville, voted down 18-12 in Lagrange and passed 84-78 in Milo as SAD 41 residents headed to the polls for the second time to make a decision on 2025-26 finances. In June district citizens voted down a proposed $11,907,487 budget for 2025-26 by a combined 219-118 count.
The revised $11.5 million brought to the second referendum represents a 2.33 percent increase from the 2024-25 $11,239,156 budget, instead of a 5.95 percent increase to $11.9 million. The $11.9 million budget was voted down in each town, 84-34 in Brownville, 17-10 in Lagrange and 118-74 in Milo.
The $2.8 million in total location contributions in the SAD 41 budget is divided proportionally between Milo (48.04 percent), Brownville (33.98 percent) and Lagrange (17.98 percent). For Milo a $1,376,711 portion of the 2025-26 SAD 41 budget is up by $190,606 or 16.07 percent.
Milo officials did not want to risk operating without tax revenue coming in, so rather than delaying sending out tax bills the request to use $190,000 from fund balance was made.
The town has a healthy fund balance of about $807,000, Town Manager Bob Canney said.
In December 2023 and January 2024 storms caused washouts and other damage and Milo is awaiting $220,000 in FEMA monies to reimburse the expenses. Once the check comes in — the schedule has arrival by the end of the month — it will go into fund balance to cover what was used for the SAD 41 budget.
The Maine Municipal Association recommended the town use fund balance monies for this purpose, Canney said.
This way the community also “didn’t hit the mill rate any harder for this coming year,” the town manager said.
In July the select board approved a 2025-26 mill rate of $28 per every $1,000 of assessed property, an increase from last year’s $27.25 rate. Town Clerk Betty Gormley checked with the Maine Municipal Association and the mill rate could be set prior to school budget approval.
Milo has started a revaluation and about half the community should be done for next year which will bring the mill rate down by an amount to be determined.
“We expect our mill rate to look quite different next year and then a lot different the next year when we finish it all up,” Canney said.
The special town meeting also included a question asking to use up to $15,000 from fund balance for debris removal at 1 Chase Hill St., at the corner with Elm Street, but the item ended up being dismissed with the situation being taken care of prior to Aug. 13.
The home on the property burned over two years ago, Copeland said. Since the last select board meeting “a group of citizens got together and did all the work that we were going to pay to do so that item is no longer necessary,” she said.
Any remaining cleanup will be done by public works.
“It shouldn’t really add any costs,” Canney said.
During the ensuing select board meeting, Code Enforcement Office Steven Quist those who cleaned up 1 Chase Hill St., saying there are more properties in town in need of similar work.
“Thank you to those that did do those because not only did you save the town money you saved (Laurie Byrnes) from having an additional lien on her property,” Copeland said.