AUGUSTA — A proposed $65.3 million city and school budget, which would result in a property tax increase of 0.6%, is up for a public hearing Thursday.
The budget hasn’t changed significantly since it was proposed by City Manager William Bridgeo and forwarded to city councilors for their ongoing review in late March.
But changes are still likely before it is expected to be voted upon by councilors in late May, including the potential addition of money to upgrade the city’s computer network security system — in response to a recent cyberattack that shut down the city’s computer network and servers, forcing the closure of Augusta City Center for two days.
Bridgeo said Tuesday he had met with consultants and city staff to talk about whether the city may need to upgrade its computer security system and said adding funding to the budget to do so is a possibility.
“By the time the budget is wrapped up,” he said, “I may have a better handle as to what we may want to do to upgrade our computer security systems, in light of our recent challenges.”
Bridgeo said the city’s share of the Kennebec County budget, about $1.6 million, is about $25,000 less than was estimated when the city budget was first drafted.
He said the sense he’s gotten from city councilors is most of them would like to try to keep the tax rate flat this year, with no increase.
“We’ve worked to try and control the potential for a tax increase, which right now would be less than a 1% increase,” Bridgeo said. “And I think we’ve addressed most of the needs in the various departments to continue to be able to provide good service.”
The public hearing on the budget is planned for the City Council’s 7 p.m. Thursday meeting in council chambers at Augusta City Center. Councilors are also scheduled to:
• Consider moving a total $170,000 left unspent in other accounts to the fire department to cover overtime costs that went over budget;
• Hear a presentation on an upcoming e-waste and household hazardous waste collection event planned at Augusta Public Works May 18;
• Consider authorizing Bridgeo to accept an offer of $15,000 to purchase a tax-acquired property on Cross Hill Road and;
• Consider authorizing the sale of a 2016 Ford Interceptor SUV used by the police department.
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