By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Naples just gained some breathing room in its budget.

A few weeks ago, town officials learned that of the three towns in School Administrative District (SAD) 61, Naples had the biggest contribution to the district budget.

At the time, on March 27, SAD 61 Superintendent Al Smith said Naples’ share of school budget had increased by 7.2 percent, coming in at $586,038.

But, that amount has changed.

The state made a mistake with the school funding formula, reducing Naples school tax by almost $173,000.

“The state had an error in its school funding formula which resulted in a reduction of $172,897 for Naples,” according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley.

On Monday, Hawley updated the Naples Board of Selectmen during his manager’s report. 

“You will remember that if the school department gets its generator [bond] approved, there is another $180,000 that would be needed. So, there is no need to make any adjustments to the budget as approved in the warrant for town meeting, and you won’t have to have a special town meeting to propose increasing the school budget,” he told the board.

The amount that Naples would owe if the generator bond passes is $193,174, according to Smith.

Later, Hawley commented on the turn of events.

“It had been widely spread last week that the state had made an error. The news spread like wildlife. When I checked in with Al, he confirmed that Naples would be on the better receiving end of that one,” he said.

“The budget that voters are going to vote on at town meeting would have covered only operational. It does not include funding for the cost of generators,” Hawley said.  “The concern was if the generators passed on May 23, Naples would have to have a special town meeting to approve that money. Now, we might not have to.”