BIDDEFORD  — While it’s still a few months before the Fiscal Year 2019 Biddeford municipal and school budgets are slated to be voted on, if the current proposals for both are approved, it should be good news for property taxpayers.

Thanks to $15 million in property value increase and another $35 million in valuation adjustments, the tax rate “is going to be pretty flat” on the city side, said City Manager James Bennett. Bennett’s proposal for the FY 2019 city budget general fund expenses is $31.6 million, up from the FY 2018 budget of $31.3 million.

Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray said the current proposal for the school budget for Kindergarten through twelfth grade and Adult Education is also good for taxpayers. The $37 million proposal is only $18,135.76 more than last year’s budget, he said, which is a 0.08 percent increase. The School Department is expecting to receive more than $900,000 in additional revenue from the state, Ray said.

“Most people living in a single-family home will be writing a check for less money than they did last year,” said Bennett. “It may be only five or 10 bucks, but at least it’s not going up.”

As a result of the $15 million in new value, the city will receive about $301,000 in new property taxes at the current tax rate of $20.07 per $1,000 of property value.

Bennett said that new revenue could be spent with little impact on the tax rate.

He has presented some options to City Council that will require them to make some policy decisions, on whether to simply use the addition $301,000 to pay for general fund expenses, thus providing savings to property taxpayers, or to use those funds and possible additional funds in a variety of ways: from increasing capital funding, to hiring another human resources staff member or increasing staffing in the Fire Department that could help reduce response rates in health emergency situations. Bennett said there are some areas of the city where response rates are so high that individuals are more likely to have a negative outcome in a health emergency.

Bennett said not only is the new revenue as a result of new value a reason that taxpayers may be pleased with their tax bill, but also the city has achieved savings in a number of ways such as paying down debt, reducing liability pay and closing lifetime benefits for new hires and those who have only been employed by the city for a short time. 

Part of the reason that the school budget proposal should see only a minimal increase is because the School Department is expecting an additional $904,000 in state subsidy, Ray said.

While three positions will be eliminated, mostly as a result of lower student counts, he said, the budget proposal calls for adding several positions, including a new K-12 musing teach, a half-time math couch, a director of curriculum and instruction and two bus aides. Also included in the budget is $118,000 for a new turf field at Waterhouse Field.

“We’re pretty proud of this budget,” as well as recent past budgets, Ray said.

The FY 2019 budget is only $77,000 more than the budget passed five years ago, he said. “We’ve only added about three and one-half cents over five years,” Ray said.

The Budget Committee, made up of City Council members is currently meeting on the municipal budget and may make adjustments to the city manager’s proposal. The School Board may also make adjustments to the School Department budget. A public hearing on both budgets as well as an initial vote by City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 9. The council plans to hold a final vote on both budgets on May 15. Biddeford voters must approve the school budget for it to take affect. The vote on the school budget referendum will be June 12 at the Biddeford High School Tiger Gym.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324, or dmendros@journaltribune.com.