PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — City councilors are in the process of discussing the proposed municipal budget for 2019, which City Manager Martin Puckett hopes will continue the city’s trend of reducing property taxpayer costs by as much as possible.
The current 2018 budget is $14.4 million with a tax commitment of $13.49 million and mill rate of $25.6 per $1,000 of property value. Puckett is proposing a total budget of $13 million for 2019 with a 3.4 percent increase in the mill rate to $26.72 per $1,000 of property value. That mill rate takes into account changes in both the county and school district property tax values.
City councilors have until Dec. 31 to formally adopt next year’s budget, which Puckett noted will likely change in regards to the total tax commitment as well as how much money they put aside for the various city departments such as fire and police, recreation and parks, and the public library.
“My goal and the council’s goal has been to try to maintain or lower the tax rate in Presque Isle and continually look at ways to generate revenue and other funds to reduce the burden on taxpayers,” Puckett said.
Several factors play a role in determining each year’s total budget, according to Puckett. Decreases in state revenue sharing have reduced the total funds the city receives from the state from $1.3 million in 2008 to likely only $800,000 for this coming year. The brunt of the reduction came about in 2015 when the state Legislature reduced the portion of state sales and income tax revenue distributed to communities from five percent to two percent.
“If the state had kept the revenue sharing portion at five percent, we would be able to lower out tax commitment by 3.47 percent through that program alone,” Puckett said.
The decrease in revenue sharing also has forced the city to put less money each year into its capital reserve account, which sets aside funds for major expenses that arise unexpectedly throughout the year. Although Puckett said the city should have $1.7 million in the capital reserve account, in recent years, officials have been unable to put aside more than $800,000.
Despite the challenges of formulating a flat budget, Puckett praised city councilors and department heads for continually finding ways to reduce taxpayer expenses. Just three years ago, he said, councilors voted to no longer supplement the Presque Isle International Airport, known then as the Northern Maine Regional Airport, so that residents would not have to pay for the building’s operational expenses.
Other city departments, such as recreation and parks, and new businesses coming to the Presque Isle Industrial Park have generated millions of dollars in revenue in recent years. Recreation and parks contributes about $300,000 yearly through programs at the Sargent Family Community Center and events at The Forum, and the Industrial Council brings in $1.5 million from its tenants.
The city manager also praised staff at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library for offering fingerprinting and passport services for the community beginning this year and the fire department for now providing ambulance services, both of which have begun to generate more revenue for the city.
“Our department heads have been really creative in looking at how they can generate more revenue. The library especially has looked at services they could provide that people might not always associate with libraries,” Puckett said.
The process of creating the year’s budget typically lasts two months, with city councilors hearing from all department heads during budget workshops that are scheduled separately from the regular City Council meetings. Councilors then make modifications to the city budget based on recommendations from Puckett and department heads until they approve the final budget in December.
The next budget workshops, all of which are open to the public, are scheduled for Oct. 24, Nov. 14 and Nov. 28 while two public hearings will be held during the regular council meetings on Nov. 7 and Dec. 5. Community members can view the proposed 2019 city budget online at http://presqueislemaine.gov/.
Puckett encourages residents to attend the workshops and public hearings and said that the councilors would continue to work to ensure that the city’s tax rate either holds steady, as with last year’s budget, or decreases to create a lesser burden on property taxpayers.
“There are a lot of factors such as the school and county portion of the tax bill and state funding that we don’t have control over,” Puckett said. “The problems we’ve been facing as a municipality are not unlike those that other towns have faced.”
