FORT KENT, Maine — With commissioners last week approving a $12.3 million budget, Aroostook County’s government budget is now set on a fiscal year. Fiscal budgets begin on July 1 and end on June 30. Prior to this, the county was approving its budget at the end of each calendar year.
The new budget was approved unanimously by the finance committee and county commissioners on May 14. The tax commitment was approved by commissioners the next day.
Commissioners took the first step toward the switch in 2022, and in late 2023, they approved a special six-month budget to begin the transition. Officials made the transition because many towns did not pay their tax bills until later in the year, which resulted in the county often needing tax anticipation notes to cover lost revenue.
And without needing to use these notes, the county will save tens of thousands of dollars on the notes and interest.
The six-month budget approved last year was $5.52 million. As part of this transition, towns had the opportunity to pay the full amount for this six-month period by October 2024, or within three years.
For this newly-approved budget, all non-union county employees received a 3.3 percent cost-of-living-adjustment increase as well as a projected 8 percent health insurance increase.
The county has now heard from more than half of its towns about this, County Administrator Ryan Pelletier said on Monday, and so far about one third have decided to pay the full amount. The remaining two-thirds are opting to make payments over three years.
Pelletier said this year’s budget includes the addition of two deputy sheriff officer positions and another dispatcher. In the sheriff’s office budget, the deputies line includes a $344,044 increase and the dispatchers line includes a $82,665 increase. These amounts also include training costs.
The $4.18 million law enforcement budget represents a 30.67 percent increase over last year’s. It also includes the addition of communications towers for radio transmissions, which were paid with American Rescue Plan Act funds. The lease payments for these towers, however, are now part of the county’s operating budget.
Pelletier said these increases are mostly a response to the recent closure of police departments in Limestone and Van Buren. Additionally, Pelletier said the county is now covering the town of Washburn.
“This adds substantially to the call volume and response needs for the sheriff’s office,” he said.
The $5.94 million jail budget is also 14.25 percent higher than in the prior budget. These increases include cost-of-living-adjustment hikes for all employees, a 15.43 percent increase in the medical contract for jail services, a 15.04 percent increase in food services, and a new $25,000 line item to help board prisoners when the jail is at capacity.
“Last year the jail was full to capacity, and we were forced to board prisoners in other county jails,” Pelletier said. “These are unanticipated expenses that have to be covered by taxes. In the new fiscal year, we have included a reserve account to start putting some money away for when this happens.”
The total valuation of all Aroostook County communities is $6.73 billion, with $5.8 billion of this being towns, cities and plantations and the remaining $880 million being the total for unorganized places.
