The Freeport Town Council is slated to vote at an 8:30 a.m. meeting tomorrow at town hall to adopt both the municipal and school budgets.
The school committee will hold a meeting immediately following the council’s meeting to vote on the school budget as adjusted by the council, so that the school budget can go to voters June 10. A school budget validation vote is required by state law.
Both the school and municipal budgets are expected to be adjusted downward from budget proposals made in April to limit tax increases.
Combined, the school and municipal budgets proposed then totaled nearly $25.4 million, an increase of $1.3 million over the current budget. That budget would have increased the tax rate, currently at $12.56 per $1,000 of valuation, by 3.6 percent or 46 cents to $13.02.
However, the council wants to limit the increase in the tax rate to between 1.5 percent to 1.9 percent. That would result in a tax rate ranging from $12.75 per $1,000 of valuation to $12.80 per $1,000 of valuation.
That means the $14.3 million school budget the school committee approved in April could require reductions ranging from $263,637 to $215,401. But school and municipal officials are looking for savings and revenue sources to limit and offset cuts.
Click here to view or add comments on this story