POLAND — The Regional School Unit 16 committee will hold a public meeting Monday to discuss the proposed $18,146,283 budget for 2011-12.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 25 at the Poland Regional High School.

Speaking in support of his proposed budget, which is nearly $1 million more than this fiscal year, Superintendent Dennis Duquette emphasized the budget “will put us in a good position academically.”

He noted that the district has been able to hold its spending essentially level for the past three years, but at a cost.

“In the past three years we’ve cut 74 positions districtwide. There comes a point where you can only decrease so much. We’re there. We may have been overzealous in a few areas,” Duquette said.

The proposed budget includes salary increases amounting to 2.6 percent for all nonunion employees and 2.6 percent for teachers in all three towns, Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland.

The proposed budget also seeks $267,384 to fund new programs and positions: a program for 4-year-olds at the Minot Consolidated School, an education technician for that program, a functional life skills teacher at the Poland Community School. Also, a sixth grade teacher at Elm Street School, a special education teacher at the high school and a special ed evaluator, grades seven to 12.

Although the budget represents an increase of $976,610 — or an overall 5.69 percent — the amount of extra tax money the district is seeking from the three towns is up $530,189.

Mechanic Falls would see its bill for the year go up $67,621, increasing from $1,361,192 to $1,428,813.

Minot’s bill would increase by $133,861, increasing from $1,590,089 to $1,723,950.

And Poland’s bill would increase by $328,705, increasing from $5,759,816 to $6,088,521.

How these increases affect the actual tax bills for property owners in the three towns differ due to a number of factors, including a shift in how each town’s share is calculated.

The basic cost-sharing formula next year is scheduled to change from what was based entirely on the state valuation of taxable property to a formula that also considers the number of students in each town. That shift, which next year will see the towns assessed at a formula based 90 percent on property value and 10 percent on the number of students going to school in the district, shifts the overall relative burden slightly away from property rich Poland to the smaller towns.

School officials have estimated that the proposed budget would cause the tax rate that each town raises to support the schools to increase by 4.73 percent in Mechanic Falls, 7.76 percent in Minot and 5.40 percent in Poland.

Officials estimate that the proposed budget would mean, based on a house with an assessed value of $100,000, that a property owner in Mechanic Falls would pay $45.43 more next year to support schools; Minot property owner would pay $82.79 more, and Poland property owner would pay $46.10.

The School Committee will take no action Monday night, but will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, at the Poland Regional High School to approve the 2011-12 budget. Then the budget goes to a districtwide meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at the Minot Consolidated School for discussion and vote.

The budget approved May 11 will go to a referendum at the polls in the three towns on May 17.