LEWISTON — The City Council on Tuesday night approved a $48.9 million municipal budget for 2019-20, as the $86.8 million school budget heads to referendum next week.
The council spent much of Tuesday’s meeting approving next year’s spending plan, including the school budget, final adjustments to the budget after a series of workshops this spring and various capital expenses.
The municipal budget was approved 6-1, with Councilor Michael Marcotte opposed.
At $48.9 million, the budget represents an increase of $2.8 million, or almost 6.1%, from current spending.
The council also approved the school budget Tuesday, but Lewiston voters will have the final say during the school budget validation referendum scheduled for Tuesday.
The school budget, at $86.8 million, is an increase of $3.8 million, a large portion of which was offset by an increase in state aid.
Together, the Lewiston budget would create a property tax rate of $29.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 83 cents. However, City Administrator Ed Barrett said Tuesday the municipal budget was drafted without accounting for a proposed increase in state revenue-sharing by Gov. Janet Mills’ administration.
Barrett said if the proposed 0.5% of revenue-sharing is redistributed to municipalities, Lewiston would gain $725,000 in revenue. If Mills’ budget passes as is, Lewiston’s property tax rate for next year would be $29.14 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 47 cents.
Barrett said Tuesday he was “pretty confident that’s going to happen, given the current discussions in Augusta.”
Without the increased revenue, the proposed 2019-20 tax rate would add $109 to the tax bill on a home valued at $150,000. If revenue-sharing is increased, the tax bill increase to a $150,000 home would be $62.
Similarly, in the school department, Superintendent Bill Webster said because of some concern over the potential tax impact of the budget, the School Committee reduced it by $113,000, dependent upon receiving additional aid in the final state budget. He said if the additional money is not received, he will work with the School Committee to cut the budget by that amount.
The council voted 5-2 to approve the school budget, with councilors Marcotte and Zack Pettengill opposed.
Prior to the votes, the council held a final public hearing on the budget, which included discussion of the roughly $3.7 million in one-time capital expenses coming from the city’s unassigned fund balance.
Rick Cailler, president of the Lewiston Firefighters Association, said he was concerned about a $50,000 study “added to the budget at the 11th hour,” arguing that the Fire Department could use those funds elsewhere.
Councilors said the study was added after a proposed assistant fire chief position, and a planner position, were cut from the budget. Marcotte said he made the suggestion the city study the administrative needs of both the Fire and Planning & Code Enforcement departments.
Mayor Kristen Cloutier said she understood the decision to be that the city will fund a study of the Fire Department and then move on to other departments.
Other positions added to the 2019-20 budget were the result of the recent Rental Registration Committee efforts. While a fee-based system was not introduced, the city is funding an additional fire inspector and clerk’s office employee to boost housing safety efforts.
Barrett presented his proposed budget to the City Council on March 19, and since then the City Council has met about a dozen times to review the various departmental budgets.
Barrett said the largest adjustments were in the revenue category, and the two proposed positions. However, a portion of the planner position was added back into the budget but only funded partially, given the timeline for when it will be filled.
Other positions that were partially funded based on a timeline are two police patrol officers and a school resource officer.
The council unanimously approved the one-time capital expenses, which include items that were either cut from the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, which is bonded, or from previous departmental requests. Included in the spending is $1.3 million in municipal vehicles, among other expenses.
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