Grantham — Voters approved a 3 percent budget increase for the 207-student Grantham Village School without discussion or dissension at the annual meeting Tuesday night.

The vote brought the school’s yearly budget to roughly $9 million, of which $6.9 million is to be raised through taxes. This is expected to result in a 6.2 percent higher tax rate of $17.18 per $1,000 of assessed valuation and will increase the tax bill on a property valued at $250,000 by about $250 per year.

About 75 of the town’s 2,800 registered voters attended the meeting at the school, according to town officials. One of the main drivers for the budget increase, said School Board Vice Chairman John Eylander, was an increase of 3.9 percent in salaries and an 11 percent rise in retirement costs. Eylander said those raises were mostly due to negotiated teacher agreements and step raises.

Health insurance is also expected to increase by about 10.6 percent, Eylander said.

Further, he said, the special education budget went up 9 percent. Just these four budget components, Eylander said, amounted to a budget increase of $331,373. That said, school administrators managed to cut $82,577 from other areas of the budget.

Eylander also told voters that tuition for Grantham students at Lebanon Middle School will go up by $640 per student next school year, bringing the total to just over $2.7 million. Tuition for Grantham students headed to Lebanon High School is down $32 per student, and will cost roughly $1.15 million.

“It’s not uncommon to see fluctuations,” he said. “And these are not big fluctuations.”

New this year, he said, will be $25,000 for five students Grantham will be sending to Ledyard Charter School instead of Lebanon High School. Eylander explained that the district was agreeing to spend the money in order to help Ledyard “make ends meet” and keep the program, which is part of the public school system, going. He said the state gives the school a small amount of funding, but it doesn’t actually cover what the school needs to stay up and running. He told voters that when a student opts for Ledyard in lieu of Lebanon, the district stops paying the tuition — more than $14,000 for the Grantham student to Lebanon, and instead pays the $5,000 to Lebanon.

Voters also unanimously voted to allow the school district to raise and appropriate $100,000 for the special education expendable trust fund. The sum will come from unassigned fund balance and not from taxation.

Superintendent of Schools Jacqueline Guillette was given a standing ovation in recognition of her five years of service to the district. This year marks the superintendent’s last after 42 years in education — including 10 years as principal of Lebanon Middle School. She is expected to retire in June.

Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 14, at 5 p.m., at Grantham Town Hall.