The tax rate could go up for Bangor residents next year after five straight years of decline.
A first draft of next year’s combined city and school budget totals $146.8 million, up from $137.7 last year. City councilors are in the midst of discussing and revising the budget before it’s set to go for a first reading at a June 8 city council meeting, according to proposed budget documents prepared by City Manager Carollynn Lear.
City and school expenses are set to rise 6.8% and 6.7%, respectively, while Penobscot County’s assessment will go up 17.6% as communities are asked to pay more to counteract a multimillion dollar budget shortfall and a jail funding crisis.
Under the proposed city budget, the average Bangor resident’s tax bill would go up nearly 19%, from $4,334 to $5,151.
The budget draft includes $2.8 million for new city programs, more than $4.5 million for infrastructure improvements like street and sidewalk fixes, nearly a million for parks and recreation, and about half a million for Community Connector technology, vans and storage.
The city plans to add several new positions next year, including a second downtown police officer and four more firefighters.
Another downtown walking beat cop would build on successes in the two years since adding the role and provide evening and weekend coverage, the police department said in its funding request.
Expanding the fire department staff will allow the city to fully operate another ambulance, bringing the number of staffed ambulances from three to four.
“It is increasingly common for all three ambulances to be committed to calls simultaneously, often daily. When another emergency call is received, we must either expedite the completion of an active call or request mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions, both of which can negatively affect patient outcomes,” the department wrote in its request.
Other new proposals recommended for approval include $300,000 to bolster safety and tenant services via loans and grants to landlords, $200,000 to hire consultants to prepare a mall development plan, and $150,000 to transition bus drivers to full-time and potentially hire new drivers, which the Community Connector department hopes will allow it to return to full bus service within the fiscal year.
Lear’s draft budget does not suggest approving requests to hire a new emergency management director or to add $2 million to an affordable housing fund that would help developers mitigate high construction and infrastructure costs, which can be a roadblock to building new housing.
