AUBURN — Some taxpayers showed up Wednesday night to tell the Auburn School Committee to cut the proposed $39.04 million school budget because the 5 percent increase in spending was too much for taxpayers to afford.

Others told committee members to stick to the larger budget because the increase is not too much.

The testimony did not leave a clear message on what kind of budget the community wants.

Looking at School Committee member Ron Potvin, who has said taxpayers will not support a budget that grows any more than 3 percent, resident David Burke said Potvin was wrong.

“The people I talk to are sick and tired of the school system being nickled and dimed, not having adequate resources,” Burke said. “At a time when test scores aren’t doing well, I don’t see how reducing the budget is going to improve things.”

Burke said his daughter, who has been in the school system since kindergarten, is now at Edward Little High School and has had “tremendous teachers along the way. They do a great job with limited resources.”

He hopes the community will start to back the schools for the sake of students and economic development. “People aren’t moving here because of the schools,” he said.

He encouraged committee members not to cut. “There’s a lot of people like me who want to see the schools funded.”

Resident Doris Bonneau, a senior citizen, said she’s a proponent of public education and asked those in the audience to raise their hands if they, their children or grandchildren attended public schools.

She was there to advocate for strong public schools “where the needs of all children are met.” That’s tough, she said, adding that teachers and administrators are doing the best they can with what they have.

Jim Berube asked committee members — who earlier talked about not spending $20,765 more on Auburn Middle School sports — to support more sports for middle school students.

“We are the only district in our area that does not provide for these programs for the seventh- and eighth-graders,” he said. Academics is a big reason people move to Auburn, he said, “but part of that is athletics.” He asked that middle school soccer, baseball, softball and cross country be fully funded. Or, “give us some options,” such as asking parents to pay.

June Chartier, a senior citizen, said she grew up in Auburn and lives on a limited income.

If the school budget vote were held today, “I would vote no, and the second time and a third time,” she said. Chartier complained that taxpayers pay too much for staff raises, health insurance and on English Language Learners positions. Test scores aren’t high enough, she said, and throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer.

“I graduated from Edward Little and went on to higher education,” she said. “I learned I can’t spend money I don’t have. I can’t make money materialize because I wish I had more.”

Peter Letourneau agreed with Potvin’s efforts to cut spending, saying the high school has too many administrators and the School Department has a public relations problem.

Voters rejected the budget twice last year because it was too high, he said. “We’re going to say no again, I believe. It’s too much money.”

Earlier in the meeting, at Potvin’s pushing, committee members informally agreed to cut $50,000 from the fund balance, which would leave about $700,000 in the rainy-day account.

Also, members agreed to cut $61,000 from building supplies,  and to phase in new sports programs at Auburn Middle School, adding seventh-grade soccer next year, seventh-grade softball and baseball in 2016 and cross country in 2017.

More budget talks will be held before the committee votes on the budget on April 30.

The budget will go to voters in a referendum June 10.