SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The proposed $3.31 million budget for the Pemetic Elementary School is $106,000, or 3.3 percent higher than for the current school year.

The increase is due mainly to salary increases for teachers, ed techs and other support staff, said principal Dianne Helprin. Most of the salary increases are contractually mandated.

“The highest part of our budget is personnel,” she said.

The school’s share of employee health insurance costs is also contributing to the increase, Ms. Helprin said. School officials have not received word from the insurance company on how much of an increase to expect; Ms. Helprin has budgeted for 10 percent, the maximum allowable increase.

Ms. Helprin said every effort was made to keep the budget as flat as possible without compromising education.

“We didn’t want to cut programs for kids to compensate for costs we can’t control,” she said.

There are two other unknowns in the current version of the budget, Ms. Helprin said.

One is in the amount of state subsidy the school will receive. School officials expect a cut in the subsidy; the $123,000 in the budget is about $30,000 less than the school received for this year.

The other is the cost of fuel oil for heating. School officials used $4 per gallon for budget purposes, but Ms. Helprin said the school committee is set to take a second look at that amount and possibly recommend that it be reduced. The $80,000 in the budget for heating oil reflects a $20,000 increase over what was budgeted for this year.

The $1.12 million budget for regular instruction is actually down by almost $13,000. Ms. Helprin said that is due to a one-year teaching position that has been eliminated. For this year, the school had to hire an extra teacher to cover the fifth grade. That person is no longer needed, Ms. Helprin said.

However, special education costs are up. The $491,200 budgeted is an increase of almost $65,000. The special education student population has changed and a half-time teacher and full time ed tech have been hired to meet the need, Ms. Helprin said. The budget lines for physical therapy and special programs have also increased.

The hiring of a new technology teacher has contributed to a $9,000 increase in that budget. Although the salary is about the same, insurance costs for the new hire are $4,700 more than for the teacher he or she is replacing. An extra $2,000 has also been budgeted to replace or repair equipment.

Transportation costs are up nearly $11,000. An extra $6,600 has been budgeted for bus driver salaries and an extra $4,000 for fuel.

If approved as proposed, taxpayers would pay an additional $1.80 for each $100,000 of property valuation.

The Southwest Harbor School Committee has already given its approval to the budget. The town’s warrant committee will consider the budget as it makes its way to voters on the floor of the annual town meeting in May.