AUBURN — The City Council approved the fiscal 2017-18 school budget on Monday, a day before absentee ballots become available for the school budget referendum on June 13. 

The proposed $41.7 million budget received a 4-2 vote Monday, with councilors Leroy Walker and Andrew Titus voting against. 

Those in favor said next year’s school budget represented a “responsible” increase in the face of rising costs. 

Councilor James Pross encouraged fellow councilors to pass the budget, while also stating that new City Manager Peter Crichton has been working well with school officials regarding budget discussions. 

Like Lewiston, Auburn may also see an increase in state aid to education once the state Legislature passes its budget next month. 

Crichton said any additional subsidy would go toward lowering the property tax rate.

Titus said he couldn’t, in good conscience, vote on an “8 percent increase to the tax levy.”

“I can’t say to my people that 8 percent is acceptable,” he said. He also said the city is “rolling the dice” by passing a budget without knowing the final state aid figures. 

Councilor Grady Burns called the budget “lean and responsible.” He said he was now hoping the state delegation from Auburn and Lewiston would help to amend Gov. Paul LePage’s budget proposal. He said LePage’s plan would have highly negative consequences in Auburn.

The City Council also approved its five-year capital improvement plan and Community Development Block Grant budget on Monday.  

The capital plan includes all infrastructure and capital needs requests from both the city and school department, but can shift as budgets are approved year to year. The council will still vote to approve next year’s capital improvement plan, which will lay out specific projects. 

Both Pross and Councilor Bob Stone argued in favor of adding funds into the five-year plan for an engineering study to look into bringing public water to a neighborhood along Taylor Pond. A number of neighborhood residents spoke publicly about the issue Monday. 

Stone said while many rural residents are in the same situation, the waterfront property in Auburn is “extremely developable land,” and that public water could bring the neighborhood up to maximum potential. 

The council voted 5-1 on the five-year capital improvement plan, with Pross opposed. 

The CDBG budget, at $760,918, is used toward a number of community and housing initiatives, funded through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The funds are used to prevent of the deterioration of housing stock, spur job creation, assist in transitioning people out of poverty, and prevent homelessness. The money is also used for portions of some code enforcement and economic development staff salaries. 

A separate program, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program worth $684,190, was also approved Monday. Among the funding uses is homeowner rehab program projects and the development of affordable housing.

Titus said in the future, he’d like to see better reporting on the results of the programs — “some sort of measurement of how it’s working,” he said. 

The council also continued its budget review process Monday in workshop, discussing the proposed budgets for interlocal agencies such as Lewiston-Auburn 911, the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee and the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.

A few councilors said they were concerned with agreeing to a 50-50 split with Lewiston in funding the 911 program.  

arice@sunjournal.com 

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