HOULTON, Maine — Last year, the town of Houlton ended with a budget surplus of $1.3 million. This year, it appears to be on track to match that.
Ron Smith, owner of RHR Smith & Co., an accounting firm based in Buxton, was in virtual attendance for Monday’s town meeting on Sept. 28 over Zoom, which had been delayed from its original date of Sept. 14 due to lack of a quorum.
At the meeting, Smith stated that although revenues were slightly down compared to last year, there was nothing of concern in the audit and that the town could expect to match somewhere around the surplus it achieved last year.
“There was really nothing that was alarming to us that said ‘hey, this is really sticking out and needs to be to be addressed right now,’” Smith said. “Nothing that we saw certainly would have risen to that level of us putting you guys on red alert to pay some real close attention to those matters, so I think that’s good news for the town of Houlton.”
Smith cautioned however that any future economic fallout that has arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain for Maine as a whole, and to factor that uncertainty into setting the budget for next year.
“I don’t think we’re going to know how this [pandemic] thing is financially going to shake out and impact our state until sometime next year,” said Smith. “My concern is that you guys aren’t going to know until a few months into your budget that you’re about to pass the financial impact to our state.”
Councilor Eileen McLaughlin thanked Smith for providing the update and for warning of future risks.
“I appreciate that you’ve done that and you’ve given us a fair warning about red flags in the future,” said McLaughlin. “It’s something good to think about.”
