The Town Council and Board of Education have reviewed available economic data, met with state representatives and local business leaders, worked with their respective administrators, listened to feedback from constituents, and worked collaboratively to create a budget that works for our community.

There is much more work to be done.

Both elected groups are committed to a civil and respectful budget process. We are aware that many people are struggling with
financial difficulties, and are doing our best to balance that awareness with our responsibility to budget appropriately to serve all members of our community.

Both the town and school staff have identified savings resulting from reductions in service as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the school side, employees are being paid as obligated by contract, and hourly employees continue to be paid as required by the Governor’s March 19 Executive Order. Savings in the FY20 (current) school budget are anticipated from transportation costs, athletics, facilities, and reductions in certain staff. T

Town administration identified about $730,000 in savings through staff furloughs to part time status and layoffs of some employees. Anticipated savings from both the school and the town will be available to apply to the FY21 budget

Below is a timeline of the budget process to date, and where we are headed. All past meetings can be found on the town’s YouTube channel. Future meetings can be viewed using the links for Zoom and YouTube found on the Town Council and School Board calendars located on their website homepages: scarboroughmaine.org and scarboroughschools.org. We ask that you stay
engaged and share your thoughts with us.

What has happened so far:

● April 8th: Budget Presentation by Town Manager and School Superintendent

● Thursday April 9th: School Board 1st reading of FY21 Budget,based on goals established in the fall of 2019 before COVID-19 changed our lives so drastically.

● Tuesday April 14th: Town and school joint Finance Committees agreed to reach a net budget of no more than a 2 percent mil rate increase for the first reading of the budget.

● Wednesday April 15th: Town Council revised the budget timeline to allow the town manager and superintendent to make adjustments based on the new target.

● Tuesday April 28th: School Board Finance Committee meeting to review administration proposed revisions to achieve TC request of 2 percent mil rate increase. Four tiers of proposed budget amendments were presented to provide context and specific examples of how the proposed changes could impact school spending.

● Tuesday April 28th: Town Council Economic Indicators Workshop.

● Wednesday April 29th: Town and school joint Finance Committee meeting to review updates and possible adjustments based on a 2 percent mil rate increase target for first reading of the budget.
● Tuesday May 5th: Town Council Finance Committee — Consensus was sought in order to determine the best path forward towards understanding what a 0 percent mil rate would look like for the overall FY21 budget.

● Wednesday May 6th: Town Council First Reading of FY21 Budget. A motion to amend the FY21 budget as presented on April 8 by a reduction of $2,725,587 passed. A motion was made to act on the request to model the effect of a 0 percent mil rate for the FY21 Budget, allocation of possible budget adjustments to be based on the respective proportional share of the total operating budget, with results to be reviewed at a Budget Workshop on May 20, This motion also passed.

What is coming up:

● Wednesday May 20th: Town Council Budget Workshop

● Thursday May 21st: School Board Public Hearing on FY21 Budget

● Wednesday June 3rd: Town Council Public Hearing on FY21 Budget

● Thursday June 4th: School Board 2nd reading and vote on FY21 Budget

● Wednesday June 17th: Town Council 2nd reading and vote on FY21 Budget

● Tuesday July 14th: School Budget Validation Referendum

Ways for community members to communicate:

1. Email: towncouncil@scarboroughmaine.org and boe@scarboroughschools.org

2. Join meetings on Zoom and offer public comment live

3. Email public comments to be read at School Board meetings: publiccomment@scarboroughschools.org

4. Email Council during meetings to be read: towncouncil@scarborough.org

5. Phone calls to Town Councilors and/or School Board members

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