MONMOUTH -- The School Committee on Wednesday eliminated two positions and cut junior-varsity sports in an effort to cut more than $120,000 from the proposed 2008-09 school budget.

Residents have shot down three budgets since the beginning of June, but committee members and selectmen, who unanimously agreed to support the School Committee's budget, believe the latest proposal, which will actually offer residents a slight reduction in property taxes, will satisfy voters' wishes.

"This budget we're proposing (will have) zero impact on the community," School Committee Chairman Michael Rogers said.

Residents will get their first crack at the budget during a town meeting 7 p.m., Thursday at Monmouth Academy -- residents' only chance to change spending in the latest version of the budget.

The proposal emerging from that meeting will go to residents for ratification in a referendum 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Aug. 26, at Cumston Hall.

None of the previous three budgets was ratified, rejections that forced a restart of the process each time.

The budget to be proposed Thursday cuts overall spending to $7.5 million by shaving $121,033 from what must be raised in local property taxes.

The $121,033 figure has become symbolically significant because it would require no tax increase. Someone who owns a home assessed at $100,000 would actually pay $10 less in property taxes this fiscal year if the budget is approved.

The cuts were selected from a list of proposals put together by interim Superintendent Leon Duff and school administrators. The team proposed nearly $230,000 in potential cuts, but recommended only $92,000.

"There are some we've listed that we are not recommending, but we want you to know we've looked at it," Duff said.

The recommended cuts, which the School Committee ultimately approved, include:

* Eliminating the drama program at the Henry L. Cottrell School and junior varsity boys soccer and softball teams at Monmouth Academy. The junior varsity programs have failed to attract enough players to support the programs in recent years, Athletic Director Stephan Ouellette said.

* Eliminating $35,000 for new carpeting at the Cottrell school. The project is a casualty of the protracted budget process. It is too late in the summer to lay the carpet.

* Doing away with a proposal to clean the heating ducts at Monmouth Academy, a project that failed to generate any bids.

* Reducing the transportation budget by more than $40,000, in part by eliminating an in-house mechanic position and cutting a bus run for the Cottrell school.

* Shaving $27,000 by eliminating a special-education technician position -- a cut the administrative team identified as the most risky, since it means special-education rooms will be filled to capacity, Special Education Director Debora Marshall said.

"There are gambles in all of these cuts," School Committee member Doug Beck said.

But whether or not the cuts are enough of a gamble to satisfy voters remains to be seen, Selectman Philip Thibodeau said.

"I don't believe you've got a sure thing, even with a $121,000 (cut)," he said. "That $121,000 has got to be meaningful."

The current proposal is the first of four to be voted on this summer to actually cut spending.

Two previous proposals reduced the amount to be raised in local property taxes by a combined $260,000 through increased state and federal assistance and surplus from this year's budget.

Residents who voted against the budget during the last two ratification votes overwhelmingly expressed a desire for less spending. Selectmen and School Committee members said they believe residents are seeking a budget that will require no increase in property taxes.

"If they want to see some blood," Duff said, "there it is."

Thibodeau estimates the committee must sway 81 voters in order for the budget to earn ratification.

In order to do that, he said voters must feel the committee has made every cut possible.

"In order to get 81 people to support it, they have to feel there is no choice but to support it," he said.

Beck urged Thibodeau and the other selectmen to help generate that support.

"We can't tell people what to do, but you can tell them it's a good budget," Beck said. "Hopefully, we can convince people that these cuts affect everybody."

Craig Crosby -- 623-3811, Ext. 433

ccrosby@centralmaine.com