It will be a lean 2008-2009 for Cape Elizabeth schools and municipal services, but tax bills won’t reflect that.

Having originally proposed a “needs-based” school budget containing a 13 percent increase, school Superintendent Alan Hawkins last week pared the increase down to 6 percent at the School Board’s direction.

But that would still mean a significant tax rate increase for Cape Elizabeth residents, because revenues from other sources are nearly flat.

And the cut may not be enough to satisfy the town Finance Committee, which on March 3 told town departments to aim for budget increases of no more than 4.3 percent, and an overall tax rate increase of no more than 10 percent.

“What it’s going to mean is that I’m taking things out of the budget,” Hawkins said late Friday. “I’m taking a lot of new positions recommended (out). There will be some changes in staff, yes.”

He declined to say whether those changes would include actual staff reductions.

Hawkins predicted parents and teachers would attend Tuesday night’s School Board meeting, where the board was to vote whether to adopt the budget as presented.

“I think it’s going to require a lot of discussion,” he said.

Unlike some municipalities, which expect significant decreases in state school aid, Cape Elizabeth is predicted to get more next year as compared to the current year. But that would do little to offset the impact of the budget, which stood at $21.3 million before Hawkins’ cuts, on taxpayers.

On the town government side, Town Manager Michael McGovern is proposing a municipal budget of $8.9 million, an increase of $415,697, or 4.88 percent. In a letter to the Town Council, McGovern cited “difficult economic times” and said that due to flat revenues, the entirety of the increase would be funded by property taxes and would translate into an 8.2 percent increase in the municipal portion of residents’ tax bills.

The budget contains increases for items such as fuel, heating oil, debt service and police overtime due to military leave and vacancies. Payroll and benefits increases account for 51 percent of the total proposed increase.

The proposed budget “provides for no new positions and no new programs,” McGovern said. “Reducing the budget further will require impacts that will be noticed,” he said.

McGovern will introduce his proposed budget to the Finance Committee on March 25. The school board was to examine its proposed budget on Tuesday.