AUGUSTA — The Board of Education voted to reduce the amount the school budget will require from local property taxpayers by $280,000.

Board members voted unanimously Wednesday to use $280,000 from the schools’ fund balance, an account made up of money unspent in previous years.

The vote was taken in response to City Council instructions to the board to alter the school budget to lessen the amount it will need from local taxpayers.

The $29.6 million school budget approved by the board in March would not have required an increase in property taxes, but instead roughly the same amount as last year. Spending is up in the budget compared to previous years, but the use of more than $3.2 million from the fund balance offset the spending increase, so there was no effect on taxpayers.

However, city councilors, who have the final say on the combined city and school budget, directed school officials to reduce their request from taxpayers by $280,000, which would help offset the budget’s effect on them.

City officials, at a recent meeting about the proposed $58.1 million combined city and school budget, said they wanted a budget that would require no more than a 2 percent increase in property taxes. City councilors said they didn’t expect school officials to cut programs or staff from the budget to come up with the $280,000, but instead to take that additional amount from the schools’ fund balance, which is what board members did Wednesday.

Board members considered one other option Wednesday, taking about $230,000 from fund balance, and also adding $40,000 to the projection for tuition revenue and $10,600 from Medicaid reimbursements.

“Based on looking at the last 13 to 14 years, we think that is a viable number,” Kathy Casparius, business director, said of increasing projected revenue from tuition students attending Cony High School by $40,000. “We don’t know how many kids we’re going to get.”

Board members decided just to take the money from fund balance, rather than count on additional tuition revenue.

“I’d hate to find us in a negative position,” said Jennifer Day, Ward 1 board member, expressing concern that tuition revenue might not come in at that higher projected amount.

The school system has more than $5 million in its fund balance, well over the amount state law says school departments should retain. So school officials, before deciding the take the additional $280,000, had proposed to take $3.2 million from that money next year to spend it down, to finance about $1 million in one-time needed capital improvements and to help fund next year’s budget.

State law prohibits school systems from keeping balances of more than 3 percent of their annual operating budget in reserve from year to year. Augusta’s $5.5 million in fund balance amounts to about 18.6 percent of this year’s proposed $29.6 million school budget. To get to 3 percent of the operating budget, the fund balance ultimately would need to be reduced to less than $900,000.

The fund balance accumulated up to $5.5 million over the last several years as expenses have come in under budget each of those years.

Anastasio has said Augusta must spend that fund balance down to 3 percent over the next three years.

Board members Wednesday also did some longer-term budget planning and discussed how to fund the schools in the future without relying on fund balance money once it is depleted.

Anastasio said the schools will either have to find new revenue or cut expenses when the fund balance is reduced to the required amount.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj