AUBURN - The controversial Auburn School Department's budget passed 480-305 on Tuesday, but City Clerk Mary Lou Magno said voter turnout was "not good," a mere 5.5 percent.

School Superintendent Tom Morrill said he was "pleased and appreciative" of voters accepting the $34.2 million spending plan. They pledged "their support for the education of our youth," he said. He added the department recognizes the financial struggle of taxpayers.

This year is the first time school budgets are being approved by voters in every Maine municipality. Mandated school budget referendums are part of Gov. John Baldacci's school administrator consolidation law. The goal is to give residents a bigger voice in spending that impacts their property taxes.

Auburn's budget takes effect July 1. It increases spending and makes some cuts, mostly to cover higher salaries and benefits, which will cost $1.3 million more in the next year.

The budget is $480,055 higher than last year. It eliminates 16.5 positions, of which 9.5 are actual layoffs. Positions eliminated include one of the four assistant principals at Edward Little High School, four teachers, five education technicians, a substance abuse counselor at the high school and a social worker at the middle school, plus other support positions.

The budget relies on $363,869 more from state taxpayers, $475,000 less from local property taxpayers. That means taxes will go down slightly. An Auburn home valued at $177,000 will be taxed $46 less.

Auburn's ballot asked those who voted no to indicate if they wanted more or less money spent on education. Among the 305 who voted no, 159 said they wanted less spent, 143 wanted more spent.

Of 10 voters interviewed in the afternoon, six voted yes, four no. Some "no" votes were for opposite reasons.

Scott Rodrigue, the father of two students at Fairview, voted no because he didn't want to see any cuts in education.

"My wife volunteers at the school. She sees a lot of problems. Things need to be taken care of. If they're cutting the budget obviously they're not going to get fixed."

Retired teacher Richard DuBois also voted no. "I want to increase the school budget." DuBois was against positions being eliminated. "We need people in the trenches. We're top heavy with administrators."

But Jim and Anita Wohlrab voted no because they want less spent.

"It should be decreased," he said. "When they have classes like stained glass, it's wasting my money. They've got to get the stupid things out of schools: stained glass, photography, noneducational."

And those voting yes sometimes had different reasons.

Dick Babb, a retired Auburn deputy superintendent, voted yes "to support the school budget."

Bill Mickalide voted yes. "It's going to lower the taxes a little bit. It's the right amount of money for what we need without going overboard. They did cut positions, which is what I was looking for."

Sharon and Steve Bryant voted yes, saying the budget was approved in a thoughtful process. "The council evaluated things pretty well," she said.

Her husband agreed, and said officials did a good job keeping the budget as low as it is "with all of the rising costs." He disapproved of the School Department using one-time money for ongoing expenses. "I wasn't crazy about dipping into the rainy day fund," Bryant said.

The majority of those interviewed said they liked having a vote in the school budget.