Updated: 11:11 PM EDT May 5, 2021 Terry Stackhouse In an emergency meeting Wednesday night, the Lewiston School Committee approved a new budget proposal, one day after its initial offer was rejected by the city council. The decision came in an 8-1 vote after multiple committee members expressed frustration with the council’s decision not to approve their $95.7 million spending plan. In a Tuesday night meeting, members of the city council stated concern with the budget’s impact on the municipal tax rate and a desire to keep the rate below $30 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Members of the school committee, including Kiernan Majerus-Collins, argue the assessment system is flawed because the city has not done a reevaluation since 1988. Majerus-Collins was the lone no vote, saying he wanted the committee to be more “confrontational” with the council. “This school committee desperately wants to do more for our students than this short-sighte
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LEWISTON School officials voted to reduce the local tax impact from next year’s school budget by 40 cents on Wednesday, despite a barrage of criticism from committee members over how the City Council has handled the budget negotiations.
The School Committee was forced to amend its budget during a special meeting Wednesday after the City Council voted down the proposed $95.7 million school budget Tuesday. The vote caused the school budget validation referendum on May 11 to be postponed.
Several committee members stood by the initial budget Wednesday, slamming city officials for handing down a ultimatum to cut sorely needed funding for a struggling school district.
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LEWISTON The annual school budget validation referendum scheduled for next week will be postponed after the City Council voted down the proposed budget Tuesday night.
Following lengthy debates among councilors over the municipal and school budgets, the City Council approved next year’s $50.1 million municipal budget but declined to move ahead with the proposed $95.7 million school spending plan.
Finance Director Heather Hunter said the School Committee will have to reevaluate and resubmit its budget to the council for approval, and the referendum scheduled to take place May 11 will be postponed.
Several councilors said the School Committee had declined to work with city officials on a budget compromise as the city faces a property tax rate of more than $30 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The vote reflected a now-strained relationship between elected officials on the City Council and School Committee.
“The risks in these measures are future impacts,” he said.
Using relief funds for recurring expenses would mean that money would not be carried forward and would have to be included in future budgets.
“I am very, very concerned about the level of relief funds being used this year ($3.5 million), but I wanted to provide an opportunity for you to alter your budget,” Langlais told the committee.
He wrote in a memorandum to the committee that its members could use an additional $200,000 in relief funds and an additional $500,000 in unexpended carryover funds, leaving $1 million.
Committee member Ron Potvin said this action would be “spelling disaster” for the school district.
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LEWISTON School Committee members were disappointed and frustrated Monday night upon learning that the City Council might ask for further cuts in school spending.
The committee’s proposed budget includes a 78-cent increase on the tax rate. Another 23 cents for Adult Education would bring the total increase to $1 for the 2021-22 school year.
But the council might ask for a school budget increase of 60 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, committee member Alicia Rea said. Rea is the council’s representative to the School Committee.
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She said she told the council that the district’s financial manager has determined that such a reduction would affect jobs.