AUGUSTA — City councilors voted to turn $398,067 over to the school board, to be spent on school needs this year, which is half of the $796,135 in additional money for education that came to the city with the recent passage of the state budget.

The other half would be split two ways, with $151,162 going to help prevent an additional property tax increase, and $246,906 being set aside to be allocated for education, if needed and asked for by the school board this year, or going into fund balance to be available to offset taxes in future years.

Councilors unanimously approved a draft proposal Thursday put together by Ralph St. Pierre, the city’s finance director and assistant city manager, and recommended by William Bridgeo, city manager, to appropriate half the new state funding, or $398,067, for the schools. How it would be spent will be left up to the school board.

School officials spoke in favor of that proposal and urged councilors to adopt it and forward the $398,067 to the schools, and to make that decision sooner, not later.

Superintendent James Anastasio said a delay now in providing the money to the schools would eliminate the School Department’s ability to plan effectively and use the money to be address the schools’ needs.

He noted the school budget favored by the school board was cut, after it went to city councilors for their approval, by $444,000, though about $300,000 of that was cut after insurance costs were projected to be $300,000 less than first budgeted. He also noted the Legislature’s intent was that the additional funding from the state would go to education.

“I remind you our budget was reduced by a total of $444,000,” Anastasio told councilors. “And the needs of our school district continue to increase. We’re at a critical time of the summer to try to determine how to meet those needs. Any delay at this time eliminates our ability to do this by the start of school.”

In Augusta, city councilors have the final say on how much is spent on both city and school needs, but the school board determines how to spend the money councilors appropriate for the schools.

“I thought we were not to micromanage,” Ward 4 Councilor Anna Blodgett said. “We give them the money.”

Kim Martin, chairwoman of the school board, said the board has not had a chance yet to discuss specifically what the $398,067 would be used for, but she said the schools have a number of needs that could be addressed with additional money. She said one reason the board has not decided is that members didn’t know how much of the money the schools would get.

“Last night, met as a board to talk about what needs it would be used for, but there is absolutely a need for that money, and I ask that you consider accepting that recommendation to pass the $398,067 on to the school board to be used for school costs in the coming year,” Martin said.

The school board met Wednesday to discuss the additional state funding, what it could be used for, and how much of it they should seek the council’s authority to use this upcoming school year.

Councilors voted 8-0 to amend the budget Thursday to include the additional state money.

The proposal would use $151,162 of the $796,135 to help prevent an additional potential property tax increase, and $246,906 to be allocated to the schools later or left unspent to go into the fund balance to be used to offset taxes in future years.

Bridgeo said the proposal’s goal was to honor councilors’ stated desire to comply with the intent of the Legislature in increasing state funding for education, which he said generally was to provide more money for schools and provide some level of property tax relief.

The $151,162 is the maximum amount Augusta can decrease local property taxes for education without falling under the required local contribution to qualify for the state education funding Augusta receives, according to St. Pierre. So he recommended reducing property taxes by that amount and replacing that tax revenue with the new state money. However, the state budget also reduced the state’s contribution to reimburse municipalities for the Homestead Exemption program. And that change resulted in a reduction in state revenue for Augusta of $150,964, coincidentally almost the same amount of money St. Pierre recommends the city use from the additional state education funds to help provide property tax relief.

So the net result of those two changes would be that the city’s tax rate next year, previously projected to increase to about $20.38 per $1,000 of property value when councilors approved the $59.3 million city and school budget, would not change from that projection.

The property tax rate is now $19.79 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

The additional $798,135 in funding for education came with the recent passage of the state budget, which boosted education funding in Maine by $48 million, well after Augusta’s combined city and school budget was approved by councilors in May.

City voters approved a resolve, as part of the school budget validation process in June, that gives councilors the authority to determine how to use any additional education funding that came from the state.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj

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