Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall presented an $81.7 million budget proposal Wednesday night for municipal, school and county services that’s up 4.4 percent over the current spending plan.
The proposed municipal budget for the year that starts July 1 is up 3.6 percent, from $30.5 million to $31.6 million, while the school budget is up 5 percent, from $45.2 million to $47.5 million, according to Hall’s budget message to the Town Council. The county assessment increased 3 percent, from $2.5 million to $2.6 million.
The overall amount to be raised in property taxes would be $60.4 million, which is $2.4 million more than the budget ending June 30, As proposed, the spending plan would increase the tax rate 51 cents or 3.27 percent, from $15.49 to $16 per $1,000 in assessed property value.
At that rate, the annual tax bill on a $300,000 home would increase $153, from $4,647 to $4,800. The increase works out to $2.94 per week, Hall noted in his budget package.
The school budget proposal reflects a projected $1 million or 22.7 percent reduction in state education aid, from $4.6 million for the 2015-16 school year to $3.6 million for the coming year. The town’s annual school subsidy has dropped 49.2 percent over the last several years, from a high of $7 million in 2008-09.
“Unfortunately, we are a victim of our own success in growing the tax base,” Hall wrote in his budget message.
Since last year, the town’s total estimated property valuation has increased $55 million, or 1.5 percent, to $3.8 billion, and Hall noted that he anticipates continued growth in excise taxes.
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