BIDDEFORD — With a less than 2 percent increase in taxes, on Wednesday, the city council unanimously passed the combined city, school and county $61.8 million budget for fiscal year 2015.

To fund this budget, local property taxpayers will be required to contribute $43 million, which is an increase of $800,000 ”“ or 1.9 percent more than the 2014 fiscal year budget that ends June 30.

How this will affect the property tax rate is uncertain. The rate won’t be set until a city-wide property revaluation, which is under way, is complete.

During the budget process, councilors disagreed about spending priorities and a target tax rate. Disputes continued even after the previous budget meeting last week, when a divided council gave an initial OK.

Wednesday’s final vote on the budget was anti-climatic. Councilors made few comments other than to thank city staff for their work on putting together the final budget and speaking in support of the result.

Finance Director Curt Koehler said the budget does include elimination of positions, but most are currently vacant. Two positions within the Public Works are being eliminated as of July 1, he said, and it is not yet known whether that will be done through layoffs or through voluntary retirement or resignations.

Councilor Marc Lessard said he was happy with the budget, which includes an additional $316,695 in contingency funds that he lobbied for throughout the budget process. The contingency fund, which will now be at $376,695, could be used to pay for investments in the city such as an industrial park, he said. The $60,000 that was previously in the account is slated for wage increases for non-union employees, said Koehler, an expenditure that the council would have to approve.

Lessard said the tax increase is manageable at 2 percent, and this could be the start of a new trend to “help the city get on a very steady tax rate.”

A consistent tax rate increase would “help people plan for the future,” said Lessard.

Councilor Bob Mills said that at the last council meeting on the budget, he was against lowering the budget from a higher figure that was initially considered.

However, he said Wednesday that he thought the final result “was a good proposal” that he would support.

The final budget’s major change, which received full council support, dealt with the wastewater fund. The city’s general fund will contribute $600,000 to the wastewater fund to pay debt service. This amount is scheduled to continue until the current debt is paid off, with a final year pay-off of $400,000 in 2029.

As a result, there will be no increase in the sewer user fee.

In addition, the wastewater fund will pay $60,000 toward the general fund to contribute to city services used by the sewer department, like collecting fees and paying wages.

Mayor Alan Casavant said he was pleased with the budget and the fact that it received unanimous council support.

The city budget for fiscal year 2015 is finalized with the council vote. The K-12 education budget of $33.6 million won’t be final until it passes a public vote. The validation referendum on the school budget is scheduled to go to voters at the polls on June 10.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].