HOULTON, Maine — The town of Houlton unveiled its budget for 2021 and held a Board of Budget Review meeting on Wednesday Dec. 2, the first of several that will take place in December.
While some town departments, such as Parks and Recreation, saw a dramatic loss in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these losses were also matched by a decrease in the town’s overall expenditures, thus enabling the town to remain on budget for the 2020 year.
As of Sept. 30, the most recently available data, the town’s expenses were at $7.7 million for 2020, with revenues at around $9.2 million.
The town manager’s suggested budget for 2021 is about $11.6 million, including the town’s share of the RSU 29 and County tax. That figure is up from the $11,296,542 budget for 2020. Municipal spending at $8,774,813 is an increase of $118,694 over the current fiscal year.
Houlton Town Manager Marian Anderson said during the budget review that uncertainty regarding state revenues for next year meant the town has to make very conservative estimates regarding state revenue sharing for 2021. The town’s initial request for intergovernmental revenue sharing for next year is at $541,000, compared to more than $600,000 for 2020.
“That is one of our greatest unknowns, is what our state revenues are going to look like,” Anderson said. “We also made significant reduction in the parks and rec revenue and the Civic Center revenue because our programs are very uncertain.”
Revenue for the John Millar Civic Center is down considerably this year. For 2020, revenues are just slightly more than $29,000, after having a projected revenue of $80,400. Much of this reduced revenue stems from cutbacks in ice rental by local youth hockey. For 2021, the town is making an initial request of half that amount.
The town’s expense budget also shows a dramatic decrease for Houlton International Airport, with a 2021 initial request for just $6,800, compared to $92,300 that was requested for 2020. Anderson said this was due to the airport becoming an enterprise account, supporting itself through fuel sales and using the profits to reduce initial requests.
“Part of that was to not wait and appropriate the money for fuel every year, but to put it on an enterprise account so that they only produce what they sell,” she said. “So say that you had a $30,000 profit in fuel, you would reduce your future request by that amount.”
The town will hold two more budget review sessions on Monday, Dec. 7, and Wednesday, Dec. 9, before a final review for the town council on Dec. 16. This will be followed by a public hearing on the budget for the 2021 fiscal year, with the date to be determined at a later time.
