Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque, right, wants the School Committee to deliver a 2018-19 school budget with no tax increase. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

AUBURN — Mayor Jason Levesque sent a memo to school officials Tuesday doubling down on his request that the School Department cut its budget to eliminate a property tax rate increase next year.

The memo summarizes several points made by councilors during a contentious budget workshop Monday, which led to a straw vote that may have caused more confusion than clarity.

[RELATED COVERAGE: Auburn: School board approves budget after reducing new positions]

In the memo Levesque said the 3-2 vote, with two abstentions, represented a “plurality” of councilors, who “agreed to recommend to the School Committee that the proposed budget increase was not acceptable, and that a new budget be proposed for consideration that reflects a zero percent increase to the tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year.”

The proposed municipal and school budgets for fiscal 2018-19:

The school budget is pegged at $44 million, $2.2 million more than this fiscal year, which ends June 30. It represents a 1.89 percent increase in the property tax rate.

The informal vote, taken during a workshop, is nonbinding. However, Levesque said the vote was meant to provide direction for the School Committee during its upcoming meetings “in order to prepare a budget that will gain a passing vote” by the council.

“Whether or not they decide to act on that is up to them,” he said.

However, Superintendent of Schools Katy Grondin has stood by her belief that the straw vote did not signal a need to cut the budget to no property tax rate increase. Instead, she said school officials will work to come up with a compromise budget.

Grondin presented the 2018-19 budget proposal to councilors Monday.

The budget received a mixed response, and in Levesque’s memo, he restated council concerns for adding new positions after what could be a one-time decrease in health insurance costs. He said if insurance goes back up next year, those positions will still have to be funded, leaving a “structural gap.”

At least one councilor, Bob Hayes, questioned why the school budget was coming under such intense scrutiny, while the proposed municipal budget of $43.4 million represents a 4.65 percent property tax increase.

In response, Levesque said Tuesday, “They are not relevant to each other.”

He also said the city budget process will continue throughout May, as the city hosts workshops with department heads.

Levesque believes that taxes should remain flat next year to make way for what could be marked increases caused by the new Edward Little High School. While the school will be paid for by the state, the city may decide to fund additional work not covered by the Maine Department of Education.

“Tax relief now will help offset potential future financial burdens on Auburn taxpayers,” he said in the memo.

The mayor also pressed the School Department on recent educational initiatives, including proficiency based learning.

He said, “Questions have been posed by citizens and this council concerning the cost and effectiveness of numerous initiatives” like proficiency based learning, and that “an audit of money spent (versus) results gained would be helpful in our decision-making process.”

Levesque said the process needs to change regarding how the school budget is put together.

“It leaves us making decisions that are ill-informed,” he said.

The proposed municipal and school budgets for fiscal 2018-19:

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