Voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel approved Regional School Unit 21’s $64.8 million school budget proposal in Tuesday’s election, according to initial results.

About 61% of voters across the three towns supported the budget, with 4,764 in favor and 3,037 against.

In Kennebunk, the vote was 2,782 in favor with 1,820 against. A total of 730 people in Arundel voted in favor and 523 voted against. And in Kennebunkport, 1,252 residents voted in favor, and 694 voted against.

The proposed budget will require a 4.98% tax increase. According to Superintendent Martin Grimm, the increasing cost of healthcare for district personnel was one of the major drivers of the budget increases. 

Last year, RSU 21’s proposed budget failed twice before eventually being approved by voters in November. The first proposal sat at $62.6 million, before being trimmed down to the $61.7 million that voters supported on the third try.