CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou City Council heard a report from City Manager Dennis Marker regarding 2020 revenue projections during a March 9 meeting, which is expected to increase by $547,394 over last year’s revenue.
Marker said the total projected revenues for this year are $10,730,736, which is 5.4 percent more than last year.
A large portion of these revenues are coming from increased fire and ambulance fees to neighboring towns. Limestone and Caswell, for example, were recently added to the city’s serviced towns due to the closure of Crown Ambulance last year. These two towns alone are paying the city of Caribou more than $200,000 annually for ambulance services.
The ambulance contracts will increase revenues by $431,000 while the fire contracts, which were offered at reduced rates compared to last year, will decrease revenues by $75,000. Altogether, the new contracts will increase city revenues by $356,000.
Additionally, due to the 2019 Legislature increasing Mainecare reimbursement from 40 to 60 percent, city officials are anticipating an additional $70,000 in revenue based on the 2019 payor mix.
The fire and ambulance budget totals $2,330,246 this year, as opposed to $2,264,368 last year. Historical expense reports on the city of Caribou website go back to 2012 — when the fire and ambulance departments were budgeted under separate lines –during which the city council approved $478,157 for the fire department and $1,524,108 for the ambulance department, or a total of $2,002,256.
Based on the numbers available via the Caribou website, the fire and ambulance budget has increased by $327,990 since 2012.
Capital expenses are not included in these totals, and as a result Marker said that while it may appear that the increased revenues for this year only show a $371,000 gap for fire and ambulance expenses, the total deficit is closer to $700,000 when taking this line into account.
“And when you divide that [$700,000] out amongst the citizens of Caribou, our [residents] are paying roughly $100 per person — the same as what we’re now charging the other communities for the same service,” Marker said.
Mayor Mark Goughan thanked the city manager for his work on the budget, adding that “the fire and ambulance issue has been very contentious.”
Marker said that Caribou Fire and Ambulance Chief Scott Susi also deserves some recognition, as both he and Marker hosted numerous meetings in outside towns explaining why the city changed their EMS rate from $11.50 to $100 per capita.
The mayor recommended looking at contracts with outside communities as soon as the audited numbers for the previous year are available.
“The lesson I’ve learned in this process is let’s grab those contracts before the first of December,” Goughan said. “Let’s grab them sometime in September and invite [the other towns] in, show them what it’s costing us and then maybe we can give them an extra month or two to make their decision.”
Another revenue addition comes from a 25 percent increase in state revenue sharing based on the state’s approved budget for 2020, which Marker said is estimated to bring in an additional $142,000.
And while the council is aiming to avoid any tax increase from the city and its departments, Marker said the Aroostook County Government is looking at a 4.7 percent increase. The city is anticipating a 3 percent increase from RSU 39, which would increase property taxes by 0.6 percent for 2020.
Ultimately, Marker said that while the revenue is projected to increase by about half a million dollars, the net increase will only be $130,000 when taking expenses into consideration.
Goughan asked, “Where did the other $370,000 go?”
Marker explained that city expenses budgeted for 2020 are about $200,000 higher than last year, in addition to the anticipated county and school increases.
Goughan asked Marker if this would prove that the council is not cutting department budgets, which he said many in the public are accusing them of doing.
“I would say that we’re looking at each of the departments as much as we can and trying to be more efficient,” Marker said.
The revenue report was presented to council as a first read and will be later brought back to the board for approval during a future meeting.
