04/29/2013

Council approves budget for 2014; school-budget validation referendum set for May 14

The Town Council on April 29, 2013 approved a $33.2 million combined municipal budget for 2013-14

The overall tax rate, pending a school budget validation vote on May 14, is slated to increase 56 cents to $16.40 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The budget includes spending for town, school, county and Community Services.

Absentee ballots are now available for the school-budget validation vote, which is scheduled for 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 14 at Cape Elizabeth High School. [download request form].

Absentee voting will be held at Town Hall during business hours until Thursday, May 9, 2013.

For more information about voting absentee, please see our Elections & Voting services section

Speakers support Fitness Center, question fairness of kindergarten lottery

During a public hearing, three speakers said they supported including $10,000 in the Community Services budget to support equipment and capital expenses for the Fitness Center. One of the speakers, Avon Road resident Sarah MacColl, said she believed the community should support fitness for all residents, just as they do fitness for school children.

Two other speakers said they opposed the portion of the proposed school budget that pilots a full-day kindergarten program for only a portion of next year's incoming class at Pond Cove School. One speaker, Beacon Lane resident Ken Lane, said he was speaking for the approximately 90 families of incoming kindergartners who are concerned about plans to offer only two sections of full-day kindergarten next year, while the remaining two-thirds of kindergarten students attend half-day sessions. "You're creating a group of haves and have-nots, by lottery," Lane said.

Wood Road resident Sara Closson, parent of an incoming kindergartner who said she has a degree in educational psychology, said she also sees the lottery as unfair. The benefits of full-day kindergarten should be available for all, she said. "Cape Elizabeth is not about discrimination," said Closson, who said she grew up in Cape Elizabeth. "If full-day kindergarten cannot be done for all, it shouldn't be done this year."

Several members of the Town Council said they understood the concerns over the lottery, but that their role to approve the budget's dollar amount did not extend to curriculum or policy decisions such as full-day kindergarten.

School Board Chairman John Christie said the board's decision to pilot full-day kindergarten this year came from a realization, late in the budget process, that a teaching resource might be available to allocate to a pilot program. The School Board was not sure how many families would be interested in full-day kindergarten, he said, and, at a time when more than five full-time equivalent positions were eliminated from the budget, funding for a complete full-day kindergarten program was not possible this year, Christie said.

Between 10 and 20 percent of Pond Cove first-graders attend private, full-day kindergarten programs, Christie said. By third grade, 90 percent of Pond Cove students are proficient in reading and writing. Full-day kindergarten is a tool the School Board hopes will help address the needs of the 10 percent who are not, Christie said.

Town budget assumes continued state revenue sharing

As the council approved the municipal portion of the overall budget, Town Manager Michael McGovern reminded councilors that the $9 million spending plan for municipal services assumes the governor's plan to eliminate state revenue sharing will not pass this year. If it does, the town budget will face a gap of approximately $640,000. "We're going to have to watch issues very carefully in Augusta this month," McGovern said.

Budget summaries

The school budget, $22,528,078 compared to $21,765,817 for this year, is up 3.5 percent and accounts for 46 cents of the proposed 56-cent increase in the tax rate. More information on the school budget is available on the School Department's budget web page.

The Community Services budget, $447,000 compared to $437,006 this year, is up 2.3 percent but will not increase the tax rate.

The Cumberland County assessment, $1,061,728, compared to $998,136 for this year, is up 6.4 percent and accounts for 4 of the 56-cent proposed tax-rate increase.

The town budget, $9,032,063 compared to $8,865,608 this year, is up 1.9 percent and accounts for 6 cents of the proposed 56-cent tax-rate increase.

Approved-budget summary and tax impact: [download]

	FY 2013	FY 2014	$ Change	% Change
	BUDGET	BUDGET	FY 13  to FY 14	FY 13  to FY 14
EXPENDITURES
TOWN SERVICES	$         8,865,608	$       9,032,363	$         166,755	1.9%
COUNTY ASSESSMENT	$            998,136	$       1,061,728	$            63,592	6.4%
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT	$       21,765,817	$    22,528,078	$         762,261	3.5%
COMMUNITY SERVICES	$            437,006	$          447,000	$              9,994	2.3%
Local Homestead Exemption	$            149,000	$          157,000	$              8,000	5.4%
	$       32,215,567	$    33,226,169	$      1,010,602	3.1%
			$                     -
REVENUE			$                     -
TOWN SERVICES	$         3,306,400	$       3,398,500	$            92,100	2.8%
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT	$         2,842,679	$       2,820,506	$          (22,173)	-0.8%
TOTAL	$         6,149,079	$       6,219,006	$            69,927	1.1%
			$                     -
NET TO TAXES			$                     -
TOWN  SERVICES	$         5,559,208	$       5,633,863	$            74,655	1.3%
COUNTY ASSESSMENT	$            998,136	$       1,061,728	$            63,592	6.4%
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT	$       18,923,138	$    19,707,572	$         784,434	4.1%
COMMUNITY SERVICES	$            437,006	$          447,000	$              9,994	2.3%
Local Homestead Exemption	$            149,000	$          157,000	$              8,000	5.4%
TOTAL	$       26,066,488	$    27,007,163	$         940,675	3.6%
			$                     -
TAX RATES (Rounded to nearest ¢)			$                     -
TOWN SERVICES	$                   3.37	$                 3.43	$                0.06	1.8%
COUNTY ASSESSMENT	$                   0.61	$                 0.65	$                0.04	6.6%
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT	$                 11.50	$              11.96	$                0.46	4.0%
COMMUNITY SERVICES	$                   0.27	$                 0.27	$                     -	0.0%
OVERLAY	$                       -		$                     -
SUBTOTAL			$                     -
Local Homestead Exemption	$                   0.09	$                 0.09	$                     -	0.0%
TOTAL	$                 15.84	$              16.40	$                0.56	3.5%
			$                     -
TAX RATE VALUATION BASIS	1,645,700,000	1,648,500,000	$      2,800,000	0.2%