Voters approve RSU 14 budget proposal

By Ed Pierce

Windham and Raymond residents submitted regarding RSU 14’s 2023-2024 budget proposal on Tuesday and when all the votes were counted, more than 69 percent of voters were in favor of approving the budget.

Voters in Windham and Raymond approved the RSU 14 
2023-2024 budget proposal by a margin greater than
69 percent to 31 percent during voting on Tuesday.
Windham's Annual Town Meeting for residents to 
vote on the town's proposed budget is set for Saturday
at Windham High School. FILE PHOTO

A total of 1,247 voters cast ballots with 854 in favor of the budget proposal and 393 opposed to passage of the budget. By town, 631 Windham voters approved the budget with 223 voting no, and 267 voters in Raymond approved the budget proposal with 126 opposed.

The 2023-2024 RSU 14 budget proposal was $56,809,751 was a 4.24 percent increase from the previous budget for 2022-2023 budget of $54,497,963. The new budget includes funding for a new School Resource Officer for lower grades and additional pre-Kindergarten instruction for district students.

Also on Tuesday, three candidates were vying for two seats on the Raymond Select Board to serve three-year terms. In the election, Derek Ray and Samuel Gifford were elected. Ray received 179 votes and Gifford 172 votes, while candidate Lawrence Taylor received 159 votes.

Voters elected Jodi Carroll to the RSU 14 seat representing Raymond. Carroll was unopposed in her bid for the seat.

Frank McDermott received 269 votes to fill one of the two vacancies on the Raymond Budget-Finance Committee for a three-year term. No candidates filed for election to fill the second vacancy and Raymond Town Clerk Sue Look said a process will be set up to determine how to fill the vacancy between the two leading write-in candidates, Laurie Forbes and Charles Leavitt, who were tied with 3 write-in votes on Tuesday.

The approved RSU 14 school budget will be included when Windham residents gather for the Annual Town Meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 17 at Windham High School. Members of the Windham Town Council approved the final budget proposal at a meeting on May 9.

At the Annual Town Meeting, Windham residents will be asked to approve a budget proposal for 2023-2024 of $40,418,346, an increase from the current 2022-2023 budget of $38,227,469. That amounts to a budget increase of 5.7 percent.

Town officials say that the Windham budget was calculated based upon projected lower town revenues, fixed expenses, and two planned town personnel additions. Some of the increase will offset the loss of $700,000 the town incurred by switching over from the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash collection system to a new trash cart system this fall.

Windham’s budget proposal also includes capital equipment investments and some short-term debt for public safety including the purchase of heavy equipment and vehicles such as an ambulance and two fire vehicles. If the budget is approved by voters, Windham would purchase a new snowplow truck and some specialized fire safety equipment including a new fire pump, nozzles, training materials, mechanic specialty equipment, and shelving.

Capital projects funded under the proposed budget include repaving sidewalks in South Windham, reconfiguring the Route 202 Intersection and maintenance paving for Collin Circle, Running Brook Road, and Montgomery Road. <