City, school to trim budgets, but taxes continue to increase

The Eastport City Council, at a special meeting held May 23, passed a combined municipal and school budget of $5,016,812, of which $2,058,437 is to be raised from local taxation, resulting in an estimated tax rate of 33.2 mills, an increase of 0.7 of a mill, or 2.1%, over last year's tax rate.

The school budget was set at $3,245,290, of which $820,399 will be raised from local taxes, representing a $40,000 decrease in the school budget requested by Union 104 Superintendent Arthur Wittine. Earlier, the budget committee had requested that the school budget be reduced by $100,000, which was in addition to $300,000 in cuts that had been made previously. The $300,000 in cuts had resulted in the termination of seven positions in the Eastport schools. At the May 16 hearing on the budget, some councillors had suggested a $60,000 cut in the municipal budget. The final municipal budget was set at $1,773,771, of which $1,215,988 is to be raised from local taxation. This figure represents a $45,000 reduction on the municipal side of the budget from the amount that had been proposed.

Following the motion approving the budget, Eastport City Manager George Finch and Superintendent Wittine were asked if they wished to comment on the approved 2006 budget. Finch said from the municipal side, with or without cuts, there will be decreased services. The reduced services will be in the public works department, the police department and city hall.

Superintendent Wittine said his comment on the budget was not printable. He did say the $40,000 cut would not come from further personnel cuts. It will come from the contingency fund. Wittine noted that the high school will need a new furnace, and when the old furnace goes he will tell the city to fix it. At the May 16 public hearing, Wittine had said if $100,000 was cut from the school budget, he would resign. He did not comment on the question of whether he would resign following the $40,000 cut.

During the meeting, Shead High School students presented a power point program showing the positive steps the school has made in improving student skills.

Eileen Curry, chairman of the joint school board for Union 104, read a letter advising the city councillors to accept the superintendent's advice concerning the school budget. Curry noted that other schools in the union are also facing budget cuts. She said good superintendents are hard to find, and the process of hiring superintendents is both expensive and time consuming. Union 104 has gone through the hiring process three times during the past five years.

Councillor Julie Leppin, in commenting on the budget, said, "We need the schools. We need to start meeting with the school board and plan for next year. We need to get over the 'them' and 'us' attitude. It is all of us. We are going to have to work through this."
Councillor Brian Schuth said the city and the school will need to start working on the budget in July C waiting until January hasn't worked.

The final budget as passed was a compromise budget worked out by Councillor Earl Small, which included the $40,000 cut from the Eastport school budget and a $45,000 cut from the municipal side of the budget. It will be up to the superintendent and the city manager to determine where the cuts are made.

Councillor Kathy Lewis said, "I recognize that both sides of the budget issue are burdened with forces beyond their monetary control. Each year it seems those forces grow stronger, and the budget has to adjust to make room for them." She noted that in addition to educating the young, there are other segments of the population that also need attention. "We have a sizeable elderly population, many of whom are on fixed incomes and who deserve to live out their lives in dignity." She also said, "We must provide a climate attractive and affordable for businesses, because it is the people who work for the businesses who have the children who go to the schools. Without the businesses, we would have neither the means to provide an education nor the children with any need for it." She sees the need to make good-faith efforts to work with all parties to plan for the future.

Also included in the budget is an appropriation of $30,914 for third-party requests, a reduction of $1,000 from FY 2005. Approved funding for third-party requests includes the following: Peavey Memorial Library, $10,000; Community Health and Counseling, $350; Eastern Area on Aging, $800; Fourth of July, $500; senior citizens, $3,500; Washington County Children's Program, $100; Eastport Recreation Board, $8,000; Eastport for Pride, $5,664; and Eastport Memorial Nursing Home, $2,000.