By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

“The story of the 2011 budget is one of increasing expenses,” said South Portland City Manager Jim Gailey at Monday’s city council meeting. “There are no new initiatives. There are no new programs. This is a bare bones budget.” 

The council received the manager’s budget along with the school department’s budget in front of a large crowd that turned out to express their opinions about both proposals. 

School Superintendent Suzanne Godin handed the council a $37.8 million budget that included a 1.5 percent increase in the property tax rate. The budget was unanimously approved March 8 by the board of education.

For a South Portland resident who owns a home with an assessed value of $200,000, the increase would add $26 to the school portion of the annual property tax bill.

The increase would raise $506,623 to seed a secondary school capital reserve fund. The fund would be used to pay debt service on renovations and additions to the middle schools and high school. 

The proposed budget cuts 25 positions, the middle school football program and transfers the Hamlin School building to the city for use as a planning office.

The council will have another workshop on the school budget on April 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at 25 Cottage Road. The city council will vote on the school budget April 26. Residents will vote May 6 whether to validate it.

Eric Kingsley and Bernadette Taffy, both South Portland residents, favored the school budget. “I’m here to support the school board budget and the tax increase,” Kingsley said.

“I support the current budget. I also approve building a capital fund for the high school renovations,” Taffy said. “You get out of your schools what you put into them.”

Opponents to the increased school budget included South Portland residents Ray Lee and Albert Dimillo.

“The school budget is out of whack. If the voters of this community pass that high school renovation, they’re living in a bubble,” Lee said.

“They’ve budgeted incorrectly every year for the past five years,” said Dimillo, referring to school administrators. “They don’t know how to budget. The school department has been putting out very misleading information.”

Gailey presented a  $27.1 million municipal budget that would require a 0.93 percent increase in the property tax rate. The current year’s budget was $27.4 million.

The budget proposal cuts 7.75 full-time vacant positions. These positions include two firefighters, one police detective, one police officer, one park maintainer, 1/2 of a children’s librarian, one recreation coordinator, 1/2 of a custodian and 1/4 of a branch librarian. It eliminates the Crosstown bus route that runs from Willard Square to the Maine Mall. It also reduces professional development for staff and takes free dog waste bags out of city parks.

The council will take its final vote on the municipal budget at a special meeting scheduled for May 24. Public comment will be taken at several meetings over the next few weeks before the council makes it final decision.

“Public safety’s a big thing. I can’t support cutting fire and police officers,” said South Portland resident Burt Cleeve.

The city council met for nearly six hours in a Saturday workshop to discuss details of the fiscal year 2011 municipal budget. 

Halfway through the session, Councilor Rosemarie De Angelis asked Gailey to add one more cost saving measure to the budget – eliminating health insurance for city councilors. 

“It’s a cost to the city of $66,000, which could fund a number of things. It’s within our purview to not take this benefit,” De Angelis said. 

De Angelis and Councilor Patti Smith are the only council members who do not participate in the city’s health care plan. The cost of providing the insurance to the other five councilors is $66,422.84. 

“Anyone who’s taking this benefit is entitled to it. It’s been policy for many years,” said Councilor Linda Boudreau.

Last August, the council considered an order to let residents decide by referendum if councilors should be entitled to health insurance. A motion to put the question on the November ballot failed by a vote of 4-2. 

De Angelis is the only new member of the council since that vote was taken last summer.

Boudreau said South Portland voters should have the final say on the issue.

“I want the public to have the facts and then make the decision,” she said.

Gailey and De Angelis agreed to meet and discuss the procedure for putting her proposal forward for council consideration. 

“I want that question back before the council,” De Angelis said.

 At the workshop, councilors heard comments from several department leaders regarding the impact of the proposed budget on their areas of responsibility. 

The council heard reports from the city manager, human resources director, city clerk, director of information technologies, director of SPC-TV, finance director, library director and transportation director. 

Council members raised questions throughout the meeting and received detailed handouts from the speakers. 

Discussion touched upon everything from city hall repairs to general assistance accomplishments to the elimination of the Crosstown bus route. 

Mary Perry works in the city’s legal department. She highlighted a number of problems with the city hall building, including a leaky roof that has caused extensive damage to interior and exterior walls. 

 One soft wall outside council chambers will cost $3,200 to fix, Perry said. 

“The last two storms have indicated that this building is old and it’s crumbling around us. It’s taking money left and right out of the budget,” Perry said. 

 She also told the council the building’s siding is damaged and the furnace needs to be replaced. 

Perry’s report prompted Boudreau to suggest leaving the old building altogether and moving the city’s operations into a new facility. 

Boudreau said she had concerns about city hall and wondered if the city would be better off selling the building instead of spending too much money on repairs. 

“We may be wasting the taxpayers money by staying here,” Boudreau said. 

Gailey said the city has considered many options, including moving to the armory or Mahoney Middle School but it cannot afford to move at this time. 

“Right now, we don’t see any alternative,” Gailey said. 

Mayor Tom Coward noted that many city buildings have suffered from deferred maintenance over the years.

“The city needs to get a handle on its capital projects. This is not a new problem,” he said.

General Assistance Administrator Kathleen Babeu outlined several cost-saving measures she’s implemented since being hired six months ago. Babeu said South Portland is the first city in Maine to have a paperless general assistance program. All documents are now scanned into an electronic archive system.

“That’s a big achievement,” Babeu said. “It saves money and it saves time.” 

Transportation Director Tom Meyers told the council the proposed budget would require the South Portland Bus Service to eliminate the Crosstown bus route, reduce one position from full time to part time and increase bus fares by 20 to 25 percent. 

Crosstown buses now carry 6 percent of all riders using the system. Cutting the route would save $31,603.  

Bus fares for adults would increase from $1.25 to $1.50. Student fares would go from $1 to $1.25 and fares for senior citizens and disabled persons would be raised from 60 cents to 75 cents. 

Meyers estimated the hike in ticket prices would generate an additional $13,038 of revenue.

The city council will hold its next municipal budget workshop 8 a.m., April 10 in city council chambers.

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or news@inthesentry.com.