AUBURN — The City Council adopted a $45.3 million school budget Monday, sending it on to voters June 11.
City officials said they were pleased by the process that led to the school budget having a 0.5% decrease to the school’s tax impact for next year, despite the overall budget being up roughly $1.5 million.
After the council voted unanimously to send the budget to referendum, Councilor Andy Titus thanked the School Committee for working with the council to reduce its budget.
Mayor Jason Levesque argued that the end result “sends a powerful message” to the community, given the proposed $122 million Edward Little High School construction project.
A City Council memo outlines the new positions included in next year’s budget, including a computer science teacher and substance misuse counselor for the high school, an interventionist for Auburn Middle School, an interventionist and behavior support educational technician for Walton School, and a district autism program for primary students.
The budget also includes a classroom teacher and two educational technicians at Washburn School, which were previously paid with federal funds. However, according to the memo, the federal funds are being reduced and need to be funded by the School Department in order to be maintained.
The memo describes the $45.3 million spending plan as “a fiscally responsible budget that moves the district forward in addressing identified needs in our district.”
Earlier this month, the City Council asked for a reduction beyond the 0% local impact in order to help reduce the overall city tax rate.
The School Committee added $100,000 to the fund balance to reduce the local tax commitment, increasing the fund balance to $883,025. It translated to a 5 cent reduction to the property tax rate from last year, based on last year’s city valuation.
The budget is scheduled to go before voters in a referendum June 11.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
