New London — The City Council on Monday approved its first amended budget that calls for a slight increase in the tax rate and keeps the education spending at last year’s level.

The council voted 6-1 to approve a $46.1 million general government budget. Councilor Martha Marx, who was in favor of keeping a level-funded budget, voted against it.

It is a $189,850 increase over Mayor Michael Passero’s proposed $45.9 million spending plan.

The council added two positions, a laborer and mechanic, to the Public Works Department budget, which has been devastated by losses over the past decade.

While the positions cost about $159,450, Council President Erica Richardson said about $80,000 of that was offset by making smaller cuts to various other line items.

The additional manpower is expected to save money in contracted work and bolster the amount of building maintenance in the city.

The council additionally added $110,000 to fund the pension for solid waste employees, something Richardson said was inadvertently left out of the mayor’s proposal but brought to light by the finance director.

All told, the increase is expected to raise the tax rate from 39.49 mills to 39.65 mills.

The council voted 4-3 to approve the mayor’s proposed $42.4 million education spending plan as opposed to the Board of Education’s $43.5 million request.

That vote highlighted the divide among the all-Democratic council when it comes to school spending — some want to stick to the mayor’s proposed budget and others want to back the school board’s spending plan.

Richardson, Anthony Nolan and Efrain Dominguez voted against the mayor's proposed school budget.

Earlier this month the council voted unanimously against the same proposed budget.

Richardson, who is in favor of fully funding the school board’s request, said the school system is at a crucial time in the development of an all-magnet school district, something the entire city has supported.

“No one wants tax increases, but there’s got to be an understanding this is not an out-of-control spending,” Richardson said.

The school board passed a proposed budget that calls for a 2.5 percent increase in its request to the city.

Further cuts, coupled with any additional drop in state funding, “could cripple the education side,” Richardson said.

The school board adopted a $64.5 million budget for fiscal year 2017 that is a 0.21 percent increase over this year’s budget but requires substantially more funding from the city in part because of a drop in revenues.

The proposed budget will require a $43.5 million appropriation from the city’s general fund as compared to $42.4 million in the current year.

A fully funded school budget would raise the tax rate by 0.88 mill, according to the city’s finance director.

After subtracting state and federal grants and the $22.9 million the city receives from the state’s Educational Cost Sharing grant, New London’s share of costs for education is projected to be $20.1 million.

The school district's total anticipated revenue is projected to come from three major sources: 35 percent from the state's Educational Cost Sharing grant, 33 percent from a mix of grants and 31 percent from the city.

The remaining 1 percent is categorized as coming from some “other” source.

The City Council is expected to meet again Monday and could approve a second amended budget before a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for May 9. The council will vote on a final amended budget before the end of May.

g.smith@theday.com