The city of Portland has approved a $367 million operating budget for the next fiscal year, amid ongoing uncertainty about assistance that it might receive from the state.
City officials estimate that Portland will see reductions of about $13 million in state and federal funding.
State lawmakers recently agreed to provide about $4 million in General Assistance reimbursement funds to municipalities around Maine for the next two years. But Mayor Mark Dion said the city is still waiting to hear how much Portland will receive.
"I've heard numbers tossed about, but I haven't received any definitive communication that falls on a number," Dion told city councilors Monday night. "It's less than we hoped."
At the same time, Portland is suing the Maine Department of Health and Human Services over its shelter reimbursement rule. The city argues the department is using a standard that does not accurately portray the true costs of providing emergency shelter and social services to unhoused people. Portland runs Maine's largest homeless shelter in the state and provides services to people from outside the city.
And municipal officials have said that if the state's reimbursement rule stands, the city will have another $4 million to $6 million shortfall to fill.
The budget will increase Portland's overall tax rate by just more than 7% and draw $8.8 million from the city's rainy day fund. The city will not know the final property tax rates until later this summer when assessors finish the revaluation process.
