Members of the Biddeford City Council and School Committee engaged in a sometimes-tense joint discussion about the proposed city and school budgets for FY’27
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
Members of the Biddeford City Council and the Biddeford School Committee participated Wednesday in a sometimes-tense joint discussion about their respective, proposed budgets.
Discussion centered upon key items that are impacting this year’s city and school budgets.
In what has become an annual tradition, the yearly joint workshop meeting was hosted and chaired by Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain.
The joint city/school workshop was held at the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology, where hundreds of area high school students are learning practical career skills in several fields of study, including advanced culinary arts and hospitality management.
______________
Attendees were treated to a wide variety of appetizers, entrees and desserts. The presenting students and their instructors received rousing applause from all who attended the meeting.
City Manager Truc Dever and School Supt. Jeremy Ray sat the head table, flanking the mayor on both sides.
The meeting was also attended by several municipal department heads, including police Chief JoAnne Fisk and Public Works Director Jeff Demers.
LaFountain kicked off the meeting by welcoming everyone and pointing out the value of all parties being in the same room for a rigorous and candid review of both budget proposals.
“It’s good that we come together in good faith so we can all better understand the needs of the city,” LaFountain said.
No members of the public – other than this reporter — attended the meeting.
Following refreshments and acknowledgement of the BRCOT, students – the city’s elected leaders got down to brass tacks and began a robust discussion of both good and bad news impacting this year’s budgets.
____________
THE BAD NEWS
Increasing costs beyond the city’s control are driving significant increases in proposed spending for both the city and school department during the next fiscal year.
Some of those items, include rising fuel and utility costs; insurance premiums and volatile interest rates and market conditions.
THE GOOD NEWS
Both Dever and Ray pointed out several notable – although rare – pieces that provided some counterweight for optimism.
As an example, Ray pointed out that his department spent only $141,000 for snow removal and sanding at all of the city’s public schools over the last fiscal area. That number impressed many people in the room, including Demers, the city’s public work director.
Both Dever and Ray praised their staff for commitments to innovation, collaboration and other cost-saving measures.
THE MEAT OF THE MATTER
On the city side of the budget, Dever showed a slight decrease in revenue ($17.2 million) compared to last year ($17.3 million)
Roughly 61 percent of the city’s budget is reflected in personnel costs, Dever explained. Future fuel costs, she said, “are up in the air.”
This year’s total (proposed) city budget is up significantly at $52.8 million compared to last year’s $47.7 million budget.
FACTORS IMPACTING CITY BUDGET
- A projected 12 percent increase in the city’s funding obligation for public transportation via Biddeford-Saco-OOB Transit (the three communities equally fund those services).
- There are 31 social-community organizations asking for city funding this year — a total of $1.6 million (a 19.6 percent increase over last year. The biggest request this year is from McArthur Library ($1 million (+/-) and the Heart of Biddeford, a downtown booster organization ($117,000).
FACTORS IMPACTING SCHOOL BUDGET
- Health insurance costs are expected to increase from between four and 12 percent.
- Increasing enrollments of multi-language (ML) students require additional staffing. Ray estimates that the current ratio is 42-1 between students and all staff (including teachers, ed techs and other supports).
RIGOROUS HEATED CONVERSATIONS
City Councilor Marc Lessard again championed the need for significant austerity measures. “If an area landlord was proposing these kinds of increases, we would be outraged and screaming for rent control.”
Lessard suggested zero funding for all social service requests and reducing spending on every line item, including overtime costs for the short-staffed Biddeford Police Department.
Councilor Jake Pierson, however, pushed back on Lessard’s statements, calling for a more measured – though necessary and critical – reduction in city spending.
But School Committee member Amy Clearwater stunned several people in the room by saying that “no one she talks to” supports cutting the proposed budget.
In fact, Clearwater argued that the city should consider spending more for valuable resources and public services including public education, recreation and public safety.
Clearwater and At-Large City Councilor Lisa Vadnais – a former school committee member – engaged in a rather terse back and forth debate regarding city spending.
NOTE | The Gazette is working to assemble a video montage of discussion from Wednesday’s meeting. That video will be posted shortly.
Never miss an update | Subscribe for free today
BIDDEFORD GAZETTE 