That's less than half of the $1.2 million in new spending sought by the school board last week. Under the 54/46 formula used to distribute that revenue, the budget's municipal side would get $460,000 (46 percent of new growth) and the schools would see a $540,000 increase, based on 54 percent of that new growth. In his calculations, Hartnett divvied up approximately $1 million in revenue growth between the town and schools this coming year. Along the way, he cut funding to the town planner position, reduced many line items and said throughout his review that admittedly, the cuts would be "tough." Town officials had been waiting for that school number for some time, after town administrator James Hartnett earlier this year introduced two possible municipal budget scenarios - one based on new municipal requests from the town's various departments and another, leaner version that cut $600,000 worth of departmental requests in favor of a tighter spending plan that covers little more than contractual obligations, fixed costs and other necessities. Westport's financial picture could come in to clearer focus over the next few weeks, following the Westport School Committee's approval last week of a $20.699 million school budget plan that would increase school spending by $1.2 million over what was approved by the select board and finance committee last year, prior to town meeting.
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