Scarborough voters approved the school department’s $78 million budget by a more than 2-to-1 margin on Tuesday, with 4,764 voting in favor and 2,225 opposed.

Along with the $75 million general fund operating budget residents voted on, the school budget also includes a $2.5 million school nutrition budget and a $233,057 adult education budget.

The $78 million total budget was about $4 million higher than last year. The school department credits the increase to rising personnel costs and new state mandates. It cut $1.2 million from its original proposed budget.

Combined with the municipal budget, Scarborough’s total $169 million budget will result in a 3.2% increase in the tax rate.

The school department is anticipating a significant loss in state funding due to a recent bill passed overhauling the state’s public school funding formula. Meanwhile, residents are bracing themselves for future tax burdens coming from the $140 million school project approved last November.

At the beginning of the budget process, council members set a goal of a 0% tax increase, with the upcoming school bond in mind. They later amended it to a 2% tax rate increase because of healthcare costs and salary increases, higher county taxes and reduced state funding, among other costs.

In May, the council approved the final budget with a 3.2% increase, still lower than many nearby communities and the original proposed budget that would have resulted in a 5.97% increase. 

At previous council meetings, however, some residents said the town should have stuck to the original goal to save taxpayers’ money in anticipation of future tax increases.

Residents also voted to fill two uncontested seats on the board of education. Donald Scott Gondzar and Alexander J. Weber ran unopposed.