PORTLAND, Maine — Property owners could face a tax increase of 62 cents per $1,000 of assessed value if the proposed fiscal year 2015 education and municipal budgets are enacted.
The increase would result in a tax rate of $20.03 per $1,000 of assessed value.
On Monday, the City Council, with Councilor Jon Hinck opposed, gave its blessing to a $101.6 million education budget. The spending plan goes to a May 13 voter referendum, as required by state law.
Councilors unanimously accepted an overall budget resolve from City Manager Mark Rees that also detailed the proposed overall $220 million in spending for city, education and Cumberland County obligations.
The Council Finance Committee, with Councilor Nick Mavodones as chairman, will hold its final meeting on the municipal budget at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 8. Public comment on the municipal budget will be accepted at the May 13 City Council meeting.
The spending will require more than $153 million in property tax revenue, with $76 million for municipal operations and $77 million for schools.
Councilors approved six specific orders for the education spending, with four opposed by Hinck because, he said, the orders represented “the first votes on the budget as a whole.”
Hinck said the 2.5 percent increase in property tax revenues to fund education more than make up for a reduction in state Department of Education subsidies, and said the School Department needs to be more fiscally aware.
“If you are going to try and constrain tax increases, you have to look at everything,” he said. Hinck was the only councilor to vote against the orders.
As he did when introducing the budget in April, Rees outlined increased private investment in the city, which has tripled to $91 million from 2011 to 2013, and increased $87 million in overall property valuations.
But offsetting increases in property taxes by increasing building permit fees and penalties for civil traffic violations drew some criticism. Rees expects building fee revisions to produce an additional $200,000 in revenue.
Christopher O’Neil, representing the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the revisions could dampen development because of the increased cost of mid- and large-sized projects.
Budget supporters included Parks Commission members Steven Morgenstein, Cynthia Loebenstein and Ralph Carmona, who praised Rees’ intention to hire a city park ranger.
Morgenstein said the rangers are the “eyes and ears for Public Services,” and the $19,000 budget increase, to about $35,000, could be offset by having a ranger on hand earlier in the year to collect fees where required.
Rees also proposed hiring an ordinance enforcement officer and spending $50,000 to help sustain the Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement Team, operated by the Milestone Foundation. Known by its HOME acronym, the service provides intervention and assistance for homeless people with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Funding for the service was not included in this year’s Community Development Block Grant program, and Rees said the service will require $25,000 more from community partners to fully operate.
Rees said he reduced budget requests by $3.7 million before submitting the budget to councilors. Before the council accepted his resolve, it also tabled votes or accepted first readings on orders for the increased fees; a 1 percent wage increase for nonunion municipal employees, and a $500,000 bond to pay past worker’s compensation claims.
Councilors also approved $640,000 in improvements at Ocean Gateway Terminal to accommodate the Nova Star ferry, including a catwalk and gangplank. The work will be funded by the Maine Department of Transportation. The Nova Star will begin daily trips to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on May 15.