With most of the numbers in, Alna, Westport Island and Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit’s other towns are each looking at about a proposed 3% hike in their share of a $25,665,988 budget for 2022-23, according to Superintendent of Schools Howie Tuttle.

He told Alna selectmen via Zoom March 30, to avoid a greater hike, the district board proposes using $350,000 of the approximately $500,000 fund balance and $350,000 in COVID relief funds that can go to saving programs and jobs. The board cut $332,500 in capital spending, mostly by delaying roofing projects, he said.

Tuttle said insurance costs were not yet known, but could be up from 2 to 5%. He said the budget proposal was nearly the version voters will take up by cost center at 6:30 p.m. May 25 at Chelsea Elementary School. The budget that results gets a districtwide vote at the polls June 14. Tuttle encouraged voting on both dates.

The community solar farm the district signed up for still has not happened, so the budget does not figure in that $50,000 in savings on electricity costs, Tuttle said. Rising energy costs are part of the proposed hike for towns, he said. In the meeting and responses to questions April 1, he also cited teacher pay, including meeting the state’s minimum standard of $40,000.

According to the presentation, Alna would pay $1,076,178, up 3.1%; Westport Island, $889,912, up 3.2%; Chelsea, $2,677,123, up 2.9%; Palermo, $2,043,024, up 3.2%; Somerville, $700,608; up 3%; Whitefield, $2,527,525, up 3.1%; and Windsor, $3,531,988, up 3%.

Tuttle thanked the SVRSU community, teachers and staff for their vigilance and collaboration in the pandemic. “It’s been a tough two years, for sure.” SVRSU kept schools open five days a week instead of using a hybrid model as some districts did, he noted.

Also March 30, selectmen chose Brunswick resident Brendan McMorrow’s $51,000 bid on 11 acres on Bailey Road. The bid was the highest of nine, First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said. He said if the sale goes through, the money will go into surplus and help keep down the interest the town pays on this year’s tax anticipation note.

He expected the TAN to be for about $300,000. The bank and rate were not yet set, Pentaleri told Wiscasset Newspaper April 1. “We are still shopping.”