MADAWASKA, Maine – Aroostook County Administrator Ryan Pelletier during a July 16 Madawaska selectmen’s meeting explained why county taxes increased this year, and gave a detailed presentation on how those taxes help the town as well as county government.
Aroostook County commissioners approved the $12.3 million annual budget earlier this year. It is the first county budget since officials moved to a fiscal calendar.
And while the county tax portion of Madawaska’s budget did increase, this is factored into the town’s overall budget, which was approved by residents during last month’s annual town meeting. This budget, according to Interim Town Manager Dan Foster, should almost certainly lead to a slight decrease in the mill rate.
Pelletier began by explaining the history of county government, which is the state’s oldest form of government, predating statehood and the Declaration of Independence.
The Aroostook County government now employs 107 full-time, two part-time and 68 on-call employees. There are two bargaining units which represent most of these employees.
Madawaska’s county taxes, according to Pelletier’s presentation, are $735,348, which is a roughly $150,000 increase over last year’s approved total of $575,062. Out of this year’s total, the town pays $90,080 for Aroostook’s rural patrol, or 12 percent of the total cost. But, out of the total county budget, Aroostook pays $36,067 for calls to Madawaska and $127,014 for dispatching in Madawaska.
While Madawaska is paying $90,080 for rural patrol, it is receiving $163,082 worth of services, or a $73,002 net, from the total county budget.
Law enforcement patrol costs, which this year total $4,604,294, take up 28 percent of the total county budget, Pelletier said. It is second only to the jail, which takes up 36 percent of the total budget. The jail budget this year is $5,944,091.
In the 2023/2024 budget year, a total of 30 inmates from Madawaska spent a cumulative 896 days in the jail.
The county is also responsible for distributing American Rescue Plan Act funds to local municipalities and non-profits throughout Aroostook. The town recently received $63,150 in ARPA funds for improvements to the midtown shopping plaza to help with the new Fish River Rural Health Facility. Four Seasons, located in Madawaska, also received $90,773 in ARPA funds for new trail grooming equipment.
This money in Madawaska leveraged an additional $178,205 in other funds toward the town.
“That was something that was really important to us, to show that those dollars would leverage other funds in state, federal, local and private foundation dollars. In total, the $6 million we’ve given out since 2021 has leveraged almost $30 million dollars,” Pelletier said.
Near the end of the presentation, selectman Jenney Dionne asked Pelletier why the county tax increased so significantly.
Pelletier said that, in 2023, they used excess ARPA funds to reduce the overall commitment. But because these are one-time funds, the revenues drop significantly when compared to the current budget. Pelletier said future budgets should show improvement as they now are near the bottom in terms of usual revenues and union contracts are locked in.
Before becoming County Administrator, Pelletier was once town manager in Madawaska. Back then, he said he also had concerns about county taxes.
“I complained about the county tax, because it is a big number,” he said. “There’s a sticker shock. But there’s a lot more to the county budget than I think is on the surface.”
