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Auburn council narrows target to about 92D10% tax levy; asks schools to model $500,000 cut
Summary
Council signaled that a 7.5% tax-levy benchmark was too deep and asked the manager to pursue a ~9% benchmark; the manager proposed an 11% manager27s budget and the council asked the superintendent and school committee to model a $500,000 reduction impact for consideration.
City Manager Phil Crowell and the mayor updated the council on the citywide budget process and the council27s prior benchmark of a 7.5% tax levy (which required about $4.4 million in cuts). Several councilors said 7.5% produced cuts that were too deep and asked the manager to rework impact statements toward a roughly 9% target.
Crowell said the manager27s recommended budget would be presented officially next Monday and that he expected to be near an 11% tax-levy position before council adjustments; he showed a working scenario that would bring a council proposed number to about 9.86% using a combination of municipal reductions and a placeholder $500,000 reduction on the school operating budget.
Councilors sought clarification about how to compare municipal and school reductions and were told the meaningful comparison is on operating budget increases rather than tax-levy percentages alone because state school aid and debt service affect the levy differently. Several councilors supported asking the school committee and superintendent to return an impact statement on what reducing the school operating request by $500,000 would look like; that modeling is informational only and would return before any final decision.
Ending: The manager will present a fuller budget next Monday with options to reach a lower tax-levy target, and the school committee will be asked to model the $500,000 reduction scenario for council review.
