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School Committee moves FY26 budget forward to public hearing; proposal relies on fund balance and requests 3.5% tax-levy increase
Summary
On March 26 the Auburn School Committee voted a straw poll to present the proposed FY2026 Auburn School Department budget at a public hearing; the department's proposal includes a roughly 3.5% tax-levy increase and would use $1.75 million of the fund balance as part of revenue planning.
The Auburn School Committee on March 26 voted a straw poll to move the proposed FY2026 Auburn School Department budget forward to the public hearing scheduled for April 2 and to the joint discussion with the Auburn City Council on April 7.
Amanda Kuchar, Auburn Public Schools business manager, presented budget details and said the department is requesting a $729,000 increase in the local assessment and that the general fund shows approximately a $2.5 million increase driven by enrollment growth, higher free-and-reduced-lunch and MLL counts, health insurance and negotiated contracts. Kuchar said the department's local request averages about a 3.6% increase on the local share; committee discussion and a city council representative described the school-side proposal as a 3.5% tax-levy increase.
Kuchar outlined fund-balance planning and explained audit timing and state limits. She said the FY24 audit was not yet final but the district is projecting an unallocated fund balance near $5 million and proposed using $1.75 million toward FY26 revenue. "Prior to COVID, you saw much smaller numbers being used for the fund balance. We're trying to kind of get ourselves back into that habit," Kuchar told the committee.
Committee members and Adam Platt, the city council representative, discussed likely city-level pressure to reduce the combined tax-levy increase. Platt said city staff and councilors were aiming to limit a combined taxpayer increase to a maximum of 5% and that the city's budget side at the time was driving a larger share of the levy increase. He said councilors would propose cuts and some may set different targets for the schools when the council meets.
Committee members pressed on drivers of the increase, including special-education costs, health insurance and negotiated contracts; Kuchar said insurance numbers were expected the following week. Members also asked about restoring a math-coach position; Kuchar said Title grant funds (Title II) could be a possible source if allocations permit and that adding such a position would cost about $100,000.
Chair (Auburn School Committee) then called for a straw-poll vote to move the proposed FY26 budget forward for the public hearing and the joint City Council discussion. The committee voted in favor of advancing the proposal; committee members noted the straw poll is not a final budget approval, and the item will return after public comment and the city council workshop.
Ending: The committee will present the proposed FY26 budget at a public hearing on April 2 and discuss it with the City Council on April 7; final budget adoption will follow subsequent public processes.
