CARIBOU, Maine — Mayor Gary Aiken, in an effort to simplify the final vote on Caribou’s budget, held an additional public budget workshop on Nov. 30, 2015 in the City Council Chambers.
Aiken initiated the meeting by discussing his plan for the 2016 budget, which involves no increase in the tax rate.
“I find it very difficult to go with a mill rate increase this year when the city had just received $3.4 million,” said Aiken. “I just think it’s a lot to expect taxpayers to pay an increase when the city is taking in that kind of revenue.”
Caribou received the $3.4 million when the state of Maine refunded a total of $40 million to its municipalities as reimbursement from the Maine Public Employees Retirement System.
“One of the suggestions I have,” said Aiken, “is that, of (the $3.4 million) that wasn’t put away, we’ve put three million dollars away in CDs to help pay for our pension fund, which we all agreed to do. Out of the balance, which was approximately $440,000 left, $220,000 was put into the account for our unfunded liabilities, which is all the sick pay and vacation time for employees. This was never funded from Day One. Right now, we’re sitting at a point where we are $128,000 short in the budget from where we’d like to be, and we still have roughly $220,000 in our general fund out of the $440,000 and I’m suggesting that whether we take it out of there or there is something we can take from the TIF account.”
Aiken suggested allocating $53,000 from the TIF account to pay for the Fire Department’s new boiler, and then pay for the remaining shortage via the unspecified reserve fund, applying it to some other areas on the capital expenses.
“We would then have a budget that has no mill rate increase,” concluded Aiken, “and that’s where we ought to be. I can’t justify increasing taxes when we just received $3.4 million.”
Councilors Joan Theriault, Jody Smith, Deputy Mayor David Martin and Mayor Aiken supported the plan to not increase taxes while councilors Tiffany Stewart, Shane McDougall and Philip McDonough II opposed the notion.
Since support for Aiken’s plan was four to three, it will be discussed further during the next City Council meeting. However, the mayor then asked if there were any additional statements from the council or public regarding his ideas for next year’s budget.
“I think we need to add the second full-time librarian,” said Councilor Stewart. “We’ve done a lot of work there, and to see it all crumble is a huge blow to all of the work that has been done. I don’t like to see that happen, and for the cost amongst the rest of Caribou it is not going to break the bank.”
Since these expenses would cost the town about a third of a mill, Stewart asked City Manager Austin Bleess roughly how much more each citizen would have to pay per year.
“For the average house, which is about $95,000, a third of a mill would be about $31 per person,” Bleess said.
“I understand the point,” said Mayor Aiken, “but we have a lot of senior people who live in this town and they’re on Social Security. It’s too bad, but that’s all they’ve got. For them to understand the half a mill, whether it’s for a library or anything else, especially if it’s for something they don’t use, that’s a hard thing for them to understand.”
Library Director Lisa Neal Shaw attended the meeting and stressed the importance of supporting the facility.
“We are full of young people, constantly,” said Shaw. “The State has brought (the Internet) connection there up to a gig. There is a lot of stuff that’s going on that could attract people to the area. Amazon is opening a brick and mortar store because millennials don’t read digital as much anymore. They prefer print, and they prefer to have a place to gather. This is the group you’re talking about attracting [to Caribou]. They don’t want a Kindle, they want a place where they can sit and read. They want a place where there is STEM training.
“There is a lot we can be doing. We’re also the first stop for a lot of people who are moving into town or visiting town. If they have a good first impression there, then they will have a good first impression of the rest of the community as well. We really need that second full-time position just to keep up with what is going on right now,” she added.
Councilor McDonough commented on how the library, as well as other city services such as the police and fire department, are all dealing with budget cuts.
“Our problems didn’t start today,” said McDonough. “They didn’t start yesterday. They started probably 25 years ago when the base closed. We’re in a poor location to draw in economic development. With economic development, people come to the library. I think we do a good job of promoting the community, but we’re not the only community in the whole country that’s fighting for the same damn economic development. It gets difficult.
“I think the point we’re trying to make is that that $31 does matter to some people. It matters to those people who aren’t getting a pay raise this year. It’s not a matter of pennies on the dollar, but we have to realize that unfortunately our population is not growing. Our economic base is not growing. It’s difficult for us to sit up here and represent a small group while also representing 7,900 people. We have to make the right choices.”
