LIMESTONE, Maine — About 50 residents who gathered for the annual town meeting in the Limestone Community School auditorium June 13 passed a $1.6 million municipal budget.
While municipal appropriations for the year total $1,613,000, or $71,774 more than last year, the town saw an additional $68,875 in revenues and $14,430 reduction in school taxes. With all taken into account, the town needs to raise $1,542,300 this year, or $5,141 less than last year.
Still, interim Town Manager Tom Stevens said Thursday morning that the town’s property tax rate has not yet been set. He said that a contracted assessor is completing a quarterly appraisal to determine property valuations and that the Select Board still needs to decide how much overlay to set aside for unexpected expenditures before setting the mill rate.
While many budget items passed without public comment, there was some discussion about funding for the police and fire departments.
Selectperson Melissa Devoe asked Police Chief Stacey Mahan if he felt that raising $308,225 for the police budget (as opposed to last year’s $318,706 appropriation) will allow the department to adequately serve the town. He said he thought so.
Local resident Julie Weston suggested reducing the Fire Department’s $83,825 appropriation. The town raised $74,660 for the department last year.
“I understand that $9,375 of this increase is due to repaving the parking lot,” she said. “I personally have looked at the parking lot and don’t believe it needs to be repaved at this point, especially when we’re trying to tighten our belts a little bit here in the town.”
Weston motioned to reduce the appropriation to $76,450, keeping about $2,000 extra this year, and possibly raising an additional $2,000 each year for the next five years to pay for the paving work. After her motion was seconded by a member of the audience, Limestone Fire Chief Jon Poitras offered an explanation for the increase.
“We’re not intending on paving the whole parking lot,” he said, “but there are some issues in the front of the building.”
Poitras said if the issues aren’t fixed soon, they would pose a greater threat and cost more to repair down the road.
One resident asked if the department “really needs that much money.”
Poitras said that the figure is based on meetings with contractors, and that it “may be less.”
“If we don’t fix it now,” he said, “we’re going to have some foundation issues. It’s a necessary evil, I guess.”
The amended motion was ultimately voted down, with the original appropriation of $83,825 approved by residents.
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- Roughly 50 Limestone residents voted forward a $1.6 million municipal budget on Thursday night. With revenues, county, and school taxes taken into consideration, the town will ultimately raise $1,542,300 this year, a $5,141 reduction from last year’s grand total. (Christopher Bouchard)
