The combined fiscal year 2016-17 municipal and school budget unanimously passed first reading Monday, and is set for final reading Monday, May 16. 

The combined $60 million budget represents a property tax rate increase of 44 cents, to $18.40 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. 

According to city administration, for a home assessed at $200,000, this would increase the annual property tax bill by $88. 

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said Monday that while next year’s budget is affecting the tax rate, the increase from the municipal, school and county budgets is minimal given the continuing struggle with state revenues on all levels. 

Bryant said the state has cut municipal revenue sharing in half, costing the city roughly $900,000 in revenue in the last few budget cycles, as well as decreased aid to schools. 

“You can either reduce expenditures, which impacts services, or you can pass it on to the taxpayer,” he said, adding that Westbrook, like many communities, has done a mixture of both. 

The city kept the tax rate level or decreased for four consecutive years until this year’s budget. 

Bryant said the state, however, has recently increased the Homestead Exemption, which provides property tax relief for qualified residents whose home is their primary residence. If used, the expanded exemption, which lowers the amount of valuation assessed, can potentially lower a property tax bill by $92, based on a home valued at $200,000. 

The city budget of $24.9 million is up by roughly $167,000, but the city is also seeing an overall revenue loss of $451,000. The school budget of $35.1 million is up about $1 million from this year’s $34.1 million budget, but revenue has also increased by $831,000. The county tax has also increased by $26,000. 

Councilor Michael Foley, chairman of the city’s Finance Committee, said a large increase in the city budget was in debt service, due mostly to the $8.9 million public services building bond that was approved by voters last fall. 

“We appreciate the citizens’ support for that facility,” he said. “Our residential property taxpayers should see very little change in their tax bill.” 

In other council action, councilors again voted 4-3 to approve a zoning amendment to allow larger signage on one side of the new ConvenientMD urgent care office in downtown Westbrook. The move had been debated by both the Planning Board and City Council, but was ultimately approved Monday. When constructed next year, the western-facing side of the medical office at the corner of Main Street and William Clarke Drive will feature the largest sign, at 30 feet wide. 

Councilors Victor Chau, John O’Hara and Gary Rairdon voted against the measure. Chau has argued that the approval will set a precedent for downtown businesses seeking larger signs. 

“I think we need to be more flexible with different businesses,” countered Councilor Mike Sanphy. 

Max Puyanic, the CEO of ConvenientMD, has said that the clinic relies on visability to attract customers from a wide range of communities in order to stay in business. 

The council also approved renaming a former portion of Bridge Street downtown “Vallee Square.” The section of road, between the Edwards Block and the Frog & Turtle restaurant, ceased to be Bridge Street after the new Bridge Street bridge was opened late last year. The area was already known as Vallee Square after the famous Westbrook singer Rudy Vallee, and the business that the Vallee family ran in the area.

Also approved after one reading was an amendment to the city’s Master Fee Schedule that establishes a fee of $125 for the initial issuing of one recycling toter and trash toter to each new residential unit in the city that qualifies for curbside trash collection. It was proposed by Councilor John O’Hara, who said that the fee is intended to mitigate some of the costs incurred by the city during new developments. Now, developers will pay for the toters at the time that the building permit is issued, and the toters will be delivered once the occupancy permit is approved. 

A bequest of $110,000 from the late Ellie Conant Saunders was also unanimously accepted Monday, which will be divided among various city departments. The Westbrook Police and Fire departments, as well as Walker Memorial Library, will receive $22,000. Westbrook Public Services will receive $44,000, intended for the care and maintenance of the Whitney Rose Garden and the Conant Burial Ground.

Bryant said the gift is “no surprise, given Saunders’ civic-mindedness.”