City’s tax rate jumps to 24.7 mils
By Mark Putnam
Director of news
PRESQUE ISLE — After holding the line for three straight years through a series of expense cuts and revenue searches, city councilors ran out of options Monday and conceded to a tax increase for property owners in the Star City. The unanimous vote to increase the mil rate from 23.5 to 24.7 followed a mostly symbolic decision by the elected officials to forgo their pay for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The approved $12.9 million municipal budget will use $90,184 from surplus, a figure that is substantially higher than last year’s amount of $37,274 taken from the reserve account. The 2013 outlay is comprised of $6.4 million designated as city spending, $5.8 million for SAD 1, $613,000 for Aroostook County and $133,000 in tax increment financing obligations.
For homeowners with property valued at $75,000, the rate hike will mean an additional $90 on their 2013 tax bill (from $1,763 to $1,853.)
Presque Isle used just over $1 million in revenue sharing from the state, as well as $358,239 in Homestead and business equipment tax exemptions to lower the actual 2013 tax commitment to $12.5 million. The city’s taxable valuation stands at just over $509 million.
The Council also established the timetable for taxes and the interest rates charged on overdue bills.
In other business, the council directed City Manager Jim Bennett to do a cost analysis, including capital and operational expenses, on various swimming options in the city. Possible scenarios include closing the existing indoor pool and including a new enclosed pool in the proposed Community Center; building an outdoor pool as part of the Community Center complex and partnering with the college for indoor pool needs; or building a new outdoor pool and investing in the existing indoor pool.
The lengthy discussion followed the recent controversial decision by councilors to not open the city’s outdoor pool this season and a visit last week by Councilor Craig Green and Rec Director Chris Beaulieu to Moncton, New Brunswick for a detailed tour of that city’s recreational/swimming facilities.
It was noted by Bennett that SAD 1 officials and supporters of the varsity swim team were concerned that there would be no local place to host home meets if Presque Isle closes its competition-sized indoor facility.
Green said if the city “laid out all the facts and figures to the public, they will better understand our decision.”
A presentation was made by Sonja Plummer-Morgan, librarian at Turner Memorial Library and chair of the city’s ad-hoc communications committee, on the status of Presque Isle’s municipal website. While the existing 11-year-old site had been developed on a shoestring budget and maintained by various department heads, she said her group believed it was time to create a new face for the Star City’s online identity.
Based on the committee’s recommendation, council authorized Townsquare Media to host a new website for Presque Isle at a subscription rate of $199 per month. No contract is required and city staff will update and maintain the site.
Councilors were not as supportive of a proposal by Manager Bennett to increase revenues to the city by adjusting the existing cable television franchise agreement fee with Time Warner from 3 percent to 5 percent. He estimated the change would bring an additional $35,000 annually to municipal coffers.
While councilors were cool to the idea of contributing to higher cable bills for constituents, they did agree that something needed to be done about the poor sound quality of the public access channel provided by Time Warner. Some suggested dropping the franchise agreement all together and transmitting the municipal meetings and events calendar through another vendor like Polaris Cable or another format like live-streaming over the Internet.
Finally, in an ongoing effort to make the city more “business-friendly.” Community Development/Planning Director Ken Arndt suggested the council consider reducing the number of public hearings required of persons/companies looking to bring projects to the city. He also suggested making the point of contact more clearly defined to prospective developers, as well as establishing a written relationship with department heads at the earliest stages of a project.
Other matters considered by City Council included:
• Authorized the city to accept a $130,000 grant (and a required 20 percent match) to expand the bike path 1,700 feet to MicMac Housing and the NMCC campus; and
• Set a Tuesday, July 16 deadline to appoint a replacement for Micah Desmond, who recently resigned from the City Council.
The next regular meeting of the Presque Isle City Council will be held Monday, Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. in council chambers in City Hall.
