The Region 4 School District is requesting a budget of $19,803,194 for the 2018-’19 school year, which represents a $233,725 or 1.16 percent decrease over the current year’s budget. Taxpayers can vote on the Region 4 Budget referendum for the next fiscal year Wednesday, May 2 from noon until 8 p.m.

The Region 4 Budget covers the costs to operate John Winthrop Middle School and Valley Regional High School for the member towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex.

This decrease is mostly due to decreases in salary, with staff reductions made to life management, technical education, Spanish, and reading teaching positions, as well as reduced assistant coach stipends. These cuts result in a $35,719 or 0.18 percent reduction in the budget.

The two largest drivers for increase to the budget include employee benefit costs (up $65,181 or 0.32 percent) and unemployment costs (up $58,500, or 0.29 percent).

The final costs are split between the three towns using a three-way allocation that is based on the average daily membership (ADM) of each town. For the next fiscal year, Chester and Deep River both show increases in their ADM’s while Essex shows a decrease.

The funding requested from Chester, based on a 22.57 percent ADM, is $4,469,581, up $208,819 or 4.90 percent.

The funding requested from Deep River, based on a 33.75 percent ADM, is $6,683,578, up $102,676 or 1.56 percent.

The funding requested from Essex, based on a 43.68 percent ADM, is $8,650,035, down $71,029 or 0.81 percent.

Chester and Essex town halls serve as the polling place for the referendum; Deep River voters poll at the library.

Region 4 Requested Budget for School Year 2018-’19

Salaries: $10,440,830

Employee Benefits: $2,826,805

Professional and Technical Services: $446,650

Property Services: $1,021,097

Other Services: $2,746,338

Supplies and Materials: $634,998

Equipment: $39,500

Other: $213,088

Total: $18,369,306

Net Billings to Town: $19,803,194