LINCOLNVILLE — As part of the process to correct a clerical error dating back to June Town Meeting, Lincolnville voters are scheduled to visit the polls 8 a.m. through 8 p.m., Aug. 12, and cast their ballots.

Votes for or against the question: "Do you favor approving the Lincolnville School Department supplemental budget for the upcoming school year that was adopted at the latest special school budget town meeting?" will be the last step in the process that began in mid-July when Town Administrator David Kinney discovered a fiscal error in the school budget numbers as he was beginning the town's own process of assembling tax bills for Lincolnville property owners.

The issue was traced to a clerical error in Lincolnville's May 19 Special School Budget Town Meeting Warrant Article 13 that threw the finances off by $331,709.

That meant that town voters must, by statute, approve a new warrant article that effectively replaces June Town Meeting Warrant Article 13 so that taxpayers raise $1.6 million to fund Lincolnville Central School, not $1.2 million.

The problem, as Superintendent Shawn Carlson explained July 15 at a special meeting of the Lincolnville School Committee, which was also attended by the Lincolnville Select Board and several residents, arose when a staff member writing Warrant Article 13 in April transposed the number from the wrong revenue sheet; in a nutshell, state revenue was recorded twice.

On Aug. 5, the town held a budget meeting vote, which resulted in 63 yays to 17 nays to a question that asked whether Lincolnville would raise and appropriate $331,709 to supplement additional local funds, which exceeds the state's essentail programs services allocation model by $331,709.

That vote paved the way for the final step of the budget validation process.

On Aug. 12, it is up to the voters to close the books on the clerical error, and approve or reject the warrrant article.