SOUTH PORTLAND — Although South Portland city councilors had to ask twice this year to get the cuts in school spending their wanted, voters on May 15 proved less demanding.
By a vote of 413 to 277, residents approved a $39.9 million operating budget for the next school year, an increase of 1.78 percent, following a council mandate to cut from the 2.2 percent increase initially proposed by Superintendent Suzanne Godin.
However, when counting appropriations of $525,000 for next year’s first payment on the $41.5 million high school bond, and $1.45 million to be set aside to “smooth out” future payments – expected to top $3.3 million in 2015 – the total tax hike will run to 4.4 percent. Assuming total citywide valuation holds at $3.36 billion, the result will be an increase of about $83 to anyone owning a single-family home assessed at $195,000 – the median price in South Portland.
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