HOULTON, Maine — The town’s elected Board of Budget Review got its first crack at reviewing line items in the municipal budget Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the first of four sessions to go over spending in the town.
At $7,718,077, the municipal side of the budget features a decrease of $58,359 from last year’s figure. However, when factoring in the RSU 29 and county tax, the total budget of $10,691,174 is up $31,798 (about half a percent). The school and county figures are only estimates at this point.
Members of the Board of Budget Review include chairman Kent Good, Priscilla Monroe, Karter Kenney, Lori Weston, Gerard Berthelette, Dorothy Donahue, Sue Tortello and Donna Barnard. Tortello and Barnard were appointed to the group Nov. 16.
One of the biggest changes to the budget is a $17,000 increase for the Sockanosett Hose Company, which is the volunteer branch of the Houlton Fire Department. According to Town Manager Butch Asselin, volunteers will no longer receive stipends twice a year for their service. Instead, the volunteer firefighters will now receive regular paychecks, with taxes taken out. In order to ensure the firefighters still receive the equivalent of $2,500, the line account was increased.
Another new feature in the town budget comes from the police department, where it is being proposed that the town should lease patrol vehicles instead of purchasing them. A total of $30,000 is in the budget to replace two cruisers this year.
Because Maine voters approved raising the state’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009, bumping it to $9 per hour next year, from $7.50, and to $12 by 2020, a number of accounts will see increases in employee wages.
Part-time employees at the Parks and Recreation department will see increases because of the change. A 2 percent cost of living increase for union and non-union employees was also factored into the budget.
Due to outward migration, fewer births and more deaths in the region, the amount of money the town receives in the form of state revenue sharing will be $390,555 in 2017, which is down slightly from the previous year. Asselin stated that according to a 2013 census , there were 200 fewer people residing in Houlton than there were in 2010.
Significant savings were again realized from the recapturing of tax increment financing funds that were then returned to the community, according to Asselin, and the town saw a $40,000 increase in revenue excise tax.
During the Nov. 16 meeting, the group reviewed requests from “other agencies,” such as the Chamber of Commerce, Northern Maine Development Commission and Aroostook Area Agency on Aging and also discussed the Parks and Recreation, Civic Center, Health and Social Services and Community Development departments.
During the discussion on the Community Development department, Nancy Ketch, the town’s community and economic development director, asked the group to consider increasing the department’s budget by $9,132.
In a memo presented to the group Ketch explained that the increase “represents the original salary agreed to when I was hired and includes the 2 percent increases received by all department heads over the past two years.”
She said while the board could not discuss individual salary in open session, they could discuss increasing the overall department budget. Her request was not granted.
The group continues its review of the budget on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Wednesday, Nov. 30, before doing a final review on Dec. 7. The budget will be presented to the council on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
BDN Staff Writer Jen Lynds contributed to this article.
