CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou Mayor Mark Goughan expressed concerns about a potential tax rate increase of 1.7 percent during an April 22 City Council meeting and, in protest, voted against approving the March 2019 financial statement.
Goughan clarified that his vote against the statement was not a reflection of Caribou Finance Director Carl Grant’s work in creating it, nor was it because he felt that the numbers were “improperly stated.”
“As a city councilor,” he said, “I did not vote for the 2019 expense budget or the revenue budget. On or before the second meeting of this coming June, the council will be asked to set the mill rate for the 2019 tax year. The council’s last update on the mill rate was that it could possibly be a 1.7 mill increase.”
Goughan went on to indicate that his no vote was solely meant to reflect that he is not in favor of increasing the city’s mill rate and that he does “not approve of the financial direction of the city.”
“My opinion,” he said, “as one city councilor, is that Caribou is not operating within its means.”
Councilor Thomas Ayer asked City Manager Dennis Marker if it would be possible to, in future financial reports, obtain a breakdown of each city department’s financial statement rather than all of their totals on one sheet.
Marker said he would make sure that Ayer gets the full summary of each department’s budget, as opposed to just the totals, moving forward.
Councilors then approved the March financial statement, with all but Goughan voting in favor.
The full March financial statement is available via the City of Caribou website in the April 22 council packet.
