Auburn will consider the impact of a 1 percent property tax limit.
AUBURN – The city’s financial plan for the coming year won’t be public until the end of the month but some of the impacts from a property tax cap will be out much sooner.

The proposed annual budget should be released to the City Council and the public on time, said City Manager Pat Finnigan. Her budget is due April 30, according to the city charter. Finnigan told councilors Monday that she would try to have it to them by their April 26 meeting.

Finnigan has been studying the effect of a proposed 1 percent cap on property taxes on the city’s budget, and she will present that to councilors and the public at a council meeting on Monday, April 12.

“If the cap passes, it wouldn’t just mean cutting a few jobs,” Finnigan said. “It would mean the end of municipal government as we know it.”

The tax cap question, “Do you want to limit property tax to 1 percent of the assessed value of the property?” will be on the November ballot, unless state lawmakers vote to place it on the ballot in June.

The cap would allow cities to levy $10 in property taxes per $1,000 of value, based on 1997 assessments. Values could be adjusted for properties that have been sold or renovated since 1997.

The city collected about $34 million in property taxes for fiscal year 2002-03. That would drop to about $12.8 million in fiscal year 2005-06, if voters approve the tax cap.

“That’s why many cities have been preparing two budgets, one that shows the impact of the tax cap and another that doesn’t,” Finnigan said.

Auburn’s budget work is on schedule, according to acting Finance Director Laurie Smith. She is filling in for 16-year Finance Director Jill Eastman, who resigned in February. Smith has been meeting with department managers and expects to present preliminary numbers to Finnigan within the next few weeks.
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