EASTON, Maine —Taxpayers will be asked next month to approve a budget with a small municipal tax increase and several expenditures from town reserves.
Easton’s board of selectmen and budget committee have approved a proposed $1.15 million budget that taxpayers will vote on during the annual town meeting Monday, April 3.
The proposed municipal budget is $6,000 or about 0.5 percent more than last year, said town manager Jim Gardner.
“When we started out the budget process, we were about $44,000 over last year,” Gardner said. “We pared down, we went into some of our savings, and we were able to bring it down to a little over $6,000.”
The $1.15 million budget is for Easton’s municipal government, and does not include costs for the Easton school district or the taxes assessed by the county, the latter of which is expected to contribute to an increase in property taxes.
The county’s taxes for Easton have increased about 15 percent over the last two years, Gardner said. “At some point, we’re hoping the county puts the brakes on here.” The school’s budget will be finalized in June.
At the April 3 town meeting, Easton voters will also be asked to approve a number of warrants authorizing the town to spend money from reserve accounts.
One would authorize the purchase of a new snow plow truck for $172,000. The town is aiming to buy the new vehicle to replace an 18-year-old truck, which would be kept as a backup for the other three trucks.
The town is asking voters to approve spending $48,000 to replace sidewalks in the Easton village center. Originally built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, “they’ve all heaved or broke, and it’s become a hazard,” Gardner said.
Voters will also be asked to sign off on allocating $30,000 for repaving the community basketball and tennis courts at the school campus.
The two tennis courts were closed last summer due to the poor surface, and the plan this year calls for repaving the tennis and basketball courts and revamping one of the tennis courts into a pickleball court, Gardner said.
Another item on the list of warrants will ask Easton voters to approve a one-year moratorium on recreational marijuana-related business and development in the town.
