CARIBOU, Maine – With a special, 6-month budget in place, Aroostook County is set to transition to a fiscal year budget next summer. That means county towns will see larger tax bills for 2024.
Aroostook County’s government has typically operated on a calendar year budget from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. But starting in July 2024, the county will operate with a fiscal year budget from July 1 to June 30.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners and finance committee unanimously approved a 6-month special budget that will operate the county’s finances from January to June until the fiscal year begins.
That budget totals $5,518,508 and includes operational expenses for the Aroostook County Jail and Sheriff’s Office building in Houlton, superior courthouses in Caribou and Houlton, registry of deeds offices, the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency and District Attorney’s office.
The budget total marks a 41.5 percent decrease from last year’s general fund budget of $9,441,471. Most departments have seen overall decreases this year but there will be a 10 percent increase in employee health insurance and a 15 percent increase in property casualty insurance, said County Administrator Ryan Pelletier.
The county expects to receive $4,082,936 in revenue from municipalities’ tax assessments during the 6-month budget period, compared to the $6,175,399 received during the 2022 calendar year.
Towns will still receive tax bills in February 2024, as they would under the calendar year, but will have the option to either pay in full by October 2024 or within a 3-year period.
The county will send towns another tax bill in May 2024 for the new fiscal year. Towns will need to pay that bill in full by October.
County administrators and commissioners began discussing a switch to a fiscal year in 2022 after finding that the government needed a more steady cash flow, Pelletier said.
Under a calendar year, municipalities received tax bills in February but had until September to pay them. Interest on late payments did not kick in until November 1. Since many towns did not pay tax bills until later in the year, the county frequently needed a tax anticipation note to cover the loss of revenue, Pelletier said.
“That note was around $25,000 to $30,000 even before the interest rates we have today,” Pelletier said. “You’d be looking at $60,000 to $70,000 in interest. But we won’t need to pay that now.”
During a public hearing at the Caribou Courthouse Tuesday, no members of the public spoke in favor of or against the 6-month county budget.
The finance committee will begin deliberating on the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget in February. That budget process will end with a final public hearing and approval in May.
