CAPE ELIZABETH – Cape Elizabeth residents can expect a tax increase to be proposed in the next school budget. The question is, how big will the increase be?

“The school budget will be increased. We can’t do a zero-increase budget without huge, huge reductions,” said Ken Murphy, interim superintendent for Cape Elizabeth schools.

Murphy said he will present his budget proposal to the Cape Elizabeth School Board on Tuesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Mary Townsend, chairwoman of the School Board, said the budget is expected to be a “maintenance budget,” meaning the district will maintain what it has without cutting programs or staffing.

After seeing Murphy’s proposed budget, the board will then meet every Tuesday night to discuss the budget before it is presented to the Town Council on April 6.

The increase in financial support from taxpayers is needed this year to maintain the district’s educational programming, Murphy said, given that stimulus money available the last two years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has dried up.

“Stimulus funding was nice, but it is not coming back,” he said.

School districts across the state had used that money to help maintain educational programs and staffing. Without that luxury, school districts will have to rethink how money is being spent.

“The lack of stimulus funding is going to be the story this year,” he said. “It is going to produce the same tensions for school districts everywhere, but I think people in Cape Elizabeth are aware of the challenges to the school budget,” he said. “We are going to present as skinny a budget as we can this year.”

Cape Elizabeth schools are operating this year with a $19.7 million budget, a 1.9 percent increase over the previous year’s total.

Murphy said he will know better later this week how much financial aid to expect from the state, but regardless of the amount, it will not be enough to cover the loss of more than $925,000 in stimulus funding.

Murphy does not anticipate huge cuts or layoffs in the coming budget proposal.

“We are going to maintain what we presently have,” he said. “We are not going to reduce programs to make up for the loss of stimulus funding. That just reduces what makes this a top-quality school district.”

“I think there is strong support in this community for maintaining a strong school system,” Murphy added.

Townsend said she is not worried residents won’t support an increased budget, provided the spending is justified. Historically, Cape Elizabeth has been very supportive of education and educational spending, she noted.

“This is a town that really supports education, but certainly they want to see their tax dollars well spent and I want to see that too,” Townsend said.

“I think we have a really strong school system,” she said. “We wouldn’t want to make any cuts that sacrifice the excellence we have created over the years. I would like to see a budget that upholds that excellence.”