AUBURN — School Committee members have weighed several factors driving up the 2024-25 budget, resulting in a proposal that includes more staff cuts.

So far, the recommended budget is $62.23 million, a 5.4% increase compared to last year’s budget. If approved, it would result in a property tax rate of $9.24 per $1,000 of assessed value, increasing the tax bill for a $150,000 home by $70.97 based on current assessed values, according to calculations by School Department staff.

The state subsidy for the upcoming fiscal year is expected to be $38.32 million and the local share of the budget is expected to be $20.65 million, according to school staff calculations.

Budget drivers this year include a roughly $1.1 million increase in special education for 2024-25 stemming from new legislation. The district is also losing $924,875 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which ends in the coming school year.

Along with other factors placing stress on the upcoming school year’s budget, the School Department is expecting to take a roughly $4.5 million hit, Superintendent Cornelia Brown told city councilors at a Monday workshop.

Salaries and benefits are the largest costs in the budget, Brown said. To keep spending down, the School Department is proposing to eliminate 13 staff positions to recover roughly $860,000 to help cover the cost of health care benefits for staff, which will also increase next school year. Last year, 18.5 positions were cut from the budget.

The positions proposed to be cut can be absorbed into vacancies, so no staff are expected to be let go, Brown said.

Councilors asked Brown to cut the budget increase to 5%, which would trim roughly $100,000, Mayor Jeffrey Harmon said at Monday’s meeting.

The School Committee will weigh feedback from the City Council and the public to consider more changes. A public hearing on the budget will be held at the April 10 committee meeting.

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