BANGOR, Maine — Bangor School Committee members got a first look at a nearly $44.7 million proposed budget for the next fiscal year and said they were pleased with the results, in spite of a 1.8 percent increase over this year’s budget.
“I say go forward and this is as lean as we can get,” committee member Marlene Susi said after Superintendent Betsy Webb highlighted details of the budget during a meeting Wednesday night.
The proposed fiscal year 2017 budget is about $789,000 higher than the current one, and the city expects to receive a smaller education subsidy from the state.
Earlier this year, the state released initial projections for what each school district would get for a subsidy in the next fiscal year. Bangor learned its subsidy could drop by $744,000, or about 4 percent less than the current year.
With significant cuts to state aid across many districts in the state — including a $17 million reduction for Portland’s public schools — the Legislature passed a tax conformity compromise that distributed $15 million more in funding to Maine schools.
The district also received some state money late in the last budget cycle, part of which it used to eliminate a proposed property tax increase. The rest went into reserves. The district plans on dipping into those reserves during this budget, and with the additional funding approved recently by the state, Bangor will effectively lose just $88,000 in state subsidy money.
It’s early to say what effect these budget changes could have on Bangor’s property tax rate. Bangor finance Director Debbie Cyr said that, in general, a $120,000 increase in expenses or decrease in revenue results in a 5-cent increase to the mill rate. So, with the loss in subsidy and increases in the budget, the school portion of Bangor’s budget could contribute to a roughly 33-cent increase on the city’s mill rate. The current citywide tax rate is $21.95.
That’s only if all factors remain unchanged.
Bangor’s school budget has been on a slow, steady increase for years. School officials attribute that to shifting of costs, most recently $870,000 in teacher retirement costs, from state coffers onto local municipalities.
Still, Webb argues Bangor has done a good job holding the line, averaging a 1 percent annual budget increase while grappling with a 7 percent drop in state funding over the past 8 years.
The district also has seen successes during that period. Its four-year graduation rate has grown from 71 percent to 87 percent; it’s dropout rate fell from 7 percent to 2 percent. Webb said the per-pupil cost of education in Bangor is lower than 75 percent of Maine schools. The average cost of educating a student in Bangor is about $8,606, about $400 lower than the state average.
“We’ve shown year after year that we are fiscally responsible,” Webb told the committee.
The most significant increase in the proposed budget is in the area of regular instruction, where costs are increasing by $309,000. That includes money for two additional teaching positions and an ed tech at Bangor High School because of large expected incoming class sizes, as well as an additional sixth grade teacher at James F. Doughty School.
Student and staff support, which covers things such as guidance, health service and technology, also is increasing by about $266,911, a 7 percent increase over this year’s figure in this area.
Webb said the district also would be adding about $28,000 to the system administration budget to fund a half-time accountant position to meet requirements of tracking federal funds through the district.
The district expects to save in a few areas, including $46,000 on its transportation budget because of reduced fuel prices, and about $57,000 in reduced debt service payments.
Webb said no layoffs, program or staff reductions have been factored into the budget.
The first budget draft to hit Webb’s desk this year was a 3.4 percent increase from the current one, but the district began searching for ways to pare down the increase. The district found about $703,000 in reductions by delaying instructional equipment requests, an accounting software upgrade, and plans to rebuild a locker room at Cameron Stadium.
Committee members asked Webb to try to find another way of funding the Cameron Stadium locker room project.
“I think we’re at a very good place in comparison to past years of knowing the numbers and having a sense of where we’re going,” committee Chairman Warren Caruso said.
Webb said there are still “moving parts” in the budget, and that adjustments could be required before the committee holds its second reading on April 6. The district will hold a workshop with city staff, who are working on the city’s portion of the budget, and the City Council on April 20. After the council reviews the budget, it’s expected to go to voters at referendum on June 14.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.