BREWER, Maine — Coming into Monday evening’s Brewer School Committee meeting, members expected to discuss difficult cuts or tax hikes to close a projected $248,000 budget deficit.
But a change in city council priorities appears to have stayed the blade, at least on the school side of the budget.
Brewer school expenses for fiscal year 2016 are estimated at nearly $20.9 million, but anticipated reductions in city and state appropriations left the department about $248,000 short of covering those costs.
During an April 13 meeting, the committee and superintendent reviewed the situation and discussed the potential fallout — reduced funding for teacher supplies and textbooks, staff reductions and delays of negotiated salary increases, among other cuts. The committee didn’t favor any of the reductions and urged school officials to continue talks with the city.
Brewer School Committee Chairman Kevin Forrest sat down with Superintendent Jay McIntire before Monday’s committee meeting and learned city officials decided to increase the anticipated local appropriation enough to close the shortfall.
“Between the [April 13] budget workshop and last night’s first reading, there were several meetings between [myself] and the city,” McIntire said in an email Tuesday. “The city was able to inform me only around noontime yesterday that they would be able to fill the revenue gap.”
Karen Fussell, the city’s finance director, said Tuesday that city councilors provided “strong feedback that the council was not happy about the prospects of cuts needed to bridge that $250,000 gap” and directed city officials to increase the funding for schools.
“It was quite a shock and a huge relief to school administrators who were worried about the possible loss of programs and/or personnel,” McIntire said. “The city clearly demonstrated its commitment to sustaining quality learning opportunities to Brewer students and students who choose to attend Brewer schools from nearby communities.”
What remains to be seen is how that decision might affect the municipal side of the budget, as the increased funding for schools will have to come from somewhere.
“We haven’t made any decisions about how we’re going to address that,” Fussell said.
Brewer hasn’t yet released its draft budget, but last year’s combined budget was about $35 million, 60 percent of which went toward the school district and 40 percent to city expenses. A draft of the fiscal year 2016 budget proposal likely will be released in mid-May, in advance of the city council’s next meeting on May 19.
The school committee meets again May 4 to hold a second reading of its budget, which they’ll then vote on and send along to the city council for review.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.