After Winslow town and school officials reached a compromise earlier this month, the Town Council passed a $36.7 million budget in a special town council meeting Monday at the Winslow Public Library.

The municipal budget is $15,566,586, a 16% increase due to increased emergency services costs and ongoing sewage and infrastructure projects. The school budget will increase by 3.6%, to a total of $21,190,947; that reflects a cut of more than $400,000 from the initial proposal.

Winslow’s property tax rate is estimated to increase from $14.85 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $14.90.

Under this spending plan, a home with a median value of $285,000 would have a property tax bill of about $4,247. But the revaluation currently underway means the property tax rate, which will be set later this year, could be lower than projected.

Before the first reading of the budget on April 13, town and school officials reached a compromise.

After the school board made significant cuts to its budget, Town Council Chairwoman Fran Hudson proposed pulling $100,000 from its fund balance — essentially a savings account made up of unspent taxpayer money from prior years — and the school would do the same from its carryover fund, to cover $200,000 of school budget expenses.

The councilors pledged to school Superintendent Peter Thiboutot to vote to allot the $100,000 to the schools, and Thiboutot agreed to do the same, but opted to find the money elsewhere in the budget, and leave the carryover fund for future years.

Hudson said finding the balance between funding schools and keeping taxes steady is hard, and that each side is very passionate about what they’re fighting for.

“I think the outcome was positive for the people of the town as far as their mill rate and taxes staying flat, and the school not having to make dramatic cuts,” Hudson said. “So I think it was a win-win.”

Hudson said some taxpayers were upset about increases to the police and fire department budgets; the police department budget will increase by 8.7% over current spending, and the fire department budget will increase by 23%.

The increases cover new union positions, not including insurance and benefits, and contractual wage increases.

Hudson said people were also upset to see cuts to the school budget.

“A lot of the things that we heard was that we were taking from children,” Hudson said. “If the schools continue to climb with their budgets each year … we wouldn’t be able to continue the services provided.”

Hudson said she’s happy with the balance the Town Council and school board struck and appreciated the input from taxpayers and school employees.

“Their passion is heard,” Hudson said. “When the teachers are upset, and the people are complaining because of the cuts, we hear them.”

The school budget next goes to a referendum vote for final approval on June 9.