Staff Writer 

South Portland Mayor Tom Blake said his daughter can’t find a job.

Councilor Linda Boudreau said her neighbor’s home is in foreclosure.

Councilor James Hughes said he is preparing to go on a fixed income.

Councilor Thomas Coward said he is selling more and more foreclosed homes.

Councilor Patti Smith said she’s scared about “the three-year look” for the city.

Councilor James Soule said the city assessor refused to re-assess his “drastically overvalued” home.

Councilor Maxine Beecher attended a Cumberland County budget meeting last week and criticized their proposed 2.5 percent increased budget – which includes two new cruisers and two full-time sheriff department officers – as being “too high.”

“I haven’t got it in my home budget and my neighbor’s haven’t got it in theirs,” she said. “Sometimes it sounds like this has happened to people from away.”

Due to those concerns, Beecher, Boudreau and Blake supported a 3 percent increase in the total school and municipal budget for the upcoming fiscal year during the first budget meeting of the season last week. City Manager James Gailey said a 3 percent increase – which is almost 1 percent less than the state-imposed LD 1 growth limitation factor – could create a $400,000 gap in his proposed municipal budget for the 2010 fiscal year.

“We haven’t even factored in a loss in revenue yet,” Gailey said. “That could make the [shortfall] up to $1 million.”

Gailey said the city has seen a decline in revenue from building permit fees and state revenue sharing in the past several months, but continues to “hit the marks” with investment income and excise tax revenues. Coward said he is concerned about retail tax revenue generated by the Maine Mall, where stores have been closing regularly.

“There’s a huge chunk of money out there that’s hooked to somebody sliding close to the edge,” he said. 

While she has yet to present a proposed budget to the council, Superintendent Suzanne Godin said a 3 percent increase would undoubtedly result in school staff cuts.

“That’s a reduction of anywhere between $875,000 and $1.5 million,” she said. “We are absolutely looking at [eliminating] positions and at the $1.5 million mark we’re talking about losing programs.”

Godin said a 3 percent increase in the budget, combined with another anticipated curtailment in school funding from the state, could leave the school board with a $2 million deficit.

“South Portland is considered a high valuation district,” she said. “The taxpayers may not be able to pay it, but the state says we can.”

School board member Richard Carter said if South Portland schools eliminated all athletic programs, extracurricular activities, substitute teachers and school nurses, it could save upwards of $1.6 million. 

“I’m not suggesting we would do any of that, but if doomsday comes from the state we could be talking about closing a school,” Carter said. “Even with a 3.9 percent increase we could see a lot more cuts.”

Councilors Smith and Coward both said they were in favor of suggesting a 3.91 percent increase – the maximum allowed under the state’s cap – and Hughes said he would have voted for a 4.5 percent increase. 

“We’re talking [a yearly tax increase of] $100 for the median household, which means a couple hundred for people where I live,” Hughes said. “The impact on the individual is not that great and the need for the community is that great.”

Blake, Coward, Hughes and Smith agreed to “compromise” by recommending a 3.5 percent increase to next year’s fiscal year budget. According to documents provided by Gailey, a 3.5 percent increase would add $549,000 to the municipal budget and nearly $1.2 million to the school budget, increasing the yearly median tax bill by more than $93. 

On Monday, resident Matt Green told the council he thought a 3.5 percent increase was not enough to “maintain the high level of services” currently available to South Portland residents and students.

“I chose to live here because of the great services we have. I’m worried a lot of this [at a 3.5 percent increased budget] has become unsustainable,” he said. “I wasn’t here for the budget workshops last year, and from what I read and hear, nobody else was either. I will be this year.”

According to a preliminary schedule prepared by Gailey, both the municipal and school budgets could be submitted to the city council in March and Godin’s proposed school budget could be presented to voters in a school budget validation referendum in June. Green recommended the council approve an advisory question – similar to the one on Cape Elizabeth’s school budget validation ballot last year – indicating if voters thought the proposed budget was “too high” or “too low” for the ballot.

“Even with a 3.9 percent budget we could see a lot more cuts,” Carter said. “If we’ve gutted the school system, I don’t know how the voters are going to react.”