The Biddeford City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday night on the proposed city and school budgets.
The proposed $29 million city budget is up $1.7 million from the current year and would add 16 cents to the property tax rate, but would have no impact on the tax bills for most homeowners because of an increase in the state homestead exemption.
“The good news is at 15 cents (on the mil rate), anyone who has a home valued at less than a half-million dollars would see a net drop in their taxes if the budget gets passed as it is now,” said City Manager Jim Bennett.
The proposed education budget is just over $35 million, up from $33.9 million for the current year. While the budget total is up, the amount required from local taxes is down $112,000 because of revenue increases and an increase in state aid for education costs.
The proposed city budget does not call for the elimination of any services or positions.
Bennett said the amount the city pays to York County has decreased by nearly $12,000 because of reduced city value from the departure of Maine Energy Recovery Co. in 2012. The city bought the property on which the trash incinerator was located and the property is no longer taxed. Bennett said that is the same reason state education aid increased.
The most significant change in the budget is the amount allocated for capital spending. The $625,000 capital budget is up $400,000 from the current budget and could increase again before it is finalized if the council chooses, Bennett said.
Bennett said he believes the budget proposal is “fair and reasonable,” but believes the city should allocate $1.2 million for capital spending to care for the city’s $200 million in assets, including buildings, roads and equipment.
The public hearing is set to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Biddeford City Hall council chambers. It will be followed by a first reading of the education budget. A first reading on the city budget will take place on May 11.
Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:
ggraham@pressherald.com
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