LEWISTON — The School Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night in support of a budget that includes a 75-cent increase on the tax rate.
Superintendent Jake Langlais presented four options to the committee for reducing the property tax increase from his original proposal of $1.46 per $1,000 of valuation and keeping $1.5 million in the fund balance for recurring expenses.
“I tried to look at this budget in a responsible, two-year cycle,” Langlais said.
He said COVID relief funds could be used to reduce the tax burden over the next two years for things such as instructional supplies.
“You can’t just zero those things out and have nothing in three years,” he said.
His options ranged from a 45-cent mill rate increase to a 90-cent increase. He recommended a 60-cent increase.
The option chosen by the committee includes a $2.34 million local increase.
Committee members advocated for the third-highest increase in light of the City Council beginning deliberations on the municipal budget with a base increase of 79 cents on the local tax rate.
The tax rate on the combined school and municipal budgets is about $28 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The option chosen by the School Committee would make the schools’ portion of the overall rate about $11.
“The school’s percentage is not necessarily what’s driving the ongoing mill rate, and yet we have the larger budget by far,” committee Vice Chairman Bruce Damon said.
The proposed school budget is $95.72 million.
By using $2.6 million in relief funds in the 2021-22 spending plan, Langlais was able to avoid cuts, he said.
Relief funds can be spent on things that are pandemic-related, such as technology software, facilities improvements and staff training in social-emotional learning, he said.
Expenses that would remain in the general fund as recurring costs include one new nurse, dyslexia training and existing staff.
The superintendent said Wednesday night that the committee’s option would allow use of pandemic funds “in a smart way and reduce the use of carryover so we can say in two years we have money in the bank and we can sustain some efforts.”
Those efforts include social-emotional learning training and an increase in funding for educating English language learners. ELL students have been “vastly underserved for decades,” Langlais said.
He said the only downside of the committee’s option was not knowing whether the City Council or the community would accept the 75-cent tax increase.
The School Committee is scheduled to formally adopt a spending plan Monday night. It must be approved by the City Council before going to city voters.
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