The Westbrook City Council has approved a budget for 2017-18 that will result in the greatest tax rate increase the city has seen in eight years.
The council voted, 4-2, Monday night in favor of a $64.4 million spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1.
City Council President Brendan Rielly abstained from the vote. Councilors John O’Hara and Gary Rairdon opposed the budget.
The package is $3.1 million higher, or 4.9 percent, than the budget for the current fiscal year. The property tax rate will go from $18.40 per $1,000 of assessed value to $19.34.
That’s an increase of more than 5 percent, or 94 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The annual tax bill for a home assessed at $190,000 will go up by $178. That’s the greatest increase since fiscal year 2010, when the property tax rate jumped $1.27 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The municipal portion of the budget is $26.8 million, a 7.4 percent increase. The school department will spend $36.2 million next year, a 3.2 percent increase over the current year. The county share of spending will be $1.4 million, a 5.9 percent increase.
On the municipal side, most of the spending increases will not add services at Westbrook City Hall. The municipal budget includes 2 percent raises for many employees, a change required by contract that will cost an extra $421,000 next year. Health insurance for employees will cost $315,215 more next year.
The school budget still needs approval from voters in a referendum June 13. It calls for a handful of new positions, including a nurse at the high school and extra hours for elementary school guidance staff. Fifth- and sixth-grade students would also get new laptops next year.
City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the increases meant he could not fulfill many requests for new programs or employees.
“This budget calls for a much larger tax increase than we’d like to be passing,” he said.
Most of the discussion in public hearings about the budget revolved around requested increases for social service agencies, like the My Place Teen Center. However, attempts to give more money to the teen center failed multiple times.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.
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