No, I am not confused about what time of the year it is. I know Halloween is still six months away, but the city of Caribou is getting close to setting the tax rate and there are still many unknowns that will affect the outcome.
The city’s expense budget is close to being finalized. The department heads have managed to eliminate three positions completely, turn one full-time position into a part-time position, and replace and re-organize two other full-time positions for an additional $17,000 savings. All this has been accomplished with no real change in the services provided.
I know there are citizens in Caribou who do not see this as being enough, but no matter what is accomplished, they’ll never see it as being enough. Personally, I think our city’s administration has done an excellent job in these economic times, and I appreciate the time and effort they have put in to reach these goals.
The city faces many of the same challenges, which we as citizens do, in the existing economy. These are the things over which all of us have little or no influence. It costs us more for gas to go back and forth to work and to do our shopping. It costs the city more for gas to run its plows, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, etc. It costs us more for heating oil to heat our homes. It costs the city more to heat all of its public facilities. All of us have seen increases in our health insurance costs in the past year. The city and its employees have seen these same increases; in fact this year’s health insurance rates have risen 8.6 percent for them.
In actual fact we as citizens have more opportunities to decrease our expenses than the city does. If we choose to turn our thermostats down to 55 degrees and put on a couple of sweaters, we can. If our local stores, businesses, places of work and the city did this we’d all be complaining. We can make the decision to sell our vehicles and no longer purchase gas. If the city did this, we would no longer have police or fire protection, nor would we have ambulances. If we want our roads repaired or cleared in the winter, we would still need Public Works as well. As individuals we have the ability to drop our health insurance (maybe not, once Obamacare kicks in completely) but if our employers tried to drop it, what kind of reaction would there be?
Just like us, the city’s administration is constantly looking at ways to decrease these costs. There is an employee committee looking at alternative health plans, the city is in the process of switching over to pellet furnaces to decrease its heating costs in the long term, and more efficient lighting systems have been installed in many of our facilities.
Forgive my rambling; I sometimes tend to do that. Back to the witching hour and the unknowns, although, now there are a few more knowns as of last week.
The Caribou Utilities District has approved an increase of $8,000 on our hydrant fees for this year. Maybe I should invest in some fire hydrants if they are going to appreciate in value. We have received our county tax bill, and it has gone up approximately $32,000 or 10 percent. Obviously they don’t seem to be under any pressure to hold the line on spending. We’re still waiting to see what happens with the state and the revenue sharing issue.
Our friends on the school board will be deciding whether or not to approve the new school board budget at its meeting tonight, Wednesday May 1st at 7 p.m. at the Superintendent’s office. I had heard rumors that they were hoping to reduce their budget, but you know what happens when you listen to rumors. The numbers I’ve seen don’t show it happening. I wonder if anyone will join me at the meeting to see what’s really happening.
The Council has just finished four months of working on the city budget (seems like four years) and we’ve played to a packed house every meeting, along with I’m sure, winning the Neilson ratings for the Monday night 7 o’clock time slot in Caribou. I still think we should be selling advertising on the Council broadcasts to raise some money for the city coffers. We’ve heard from every special interest group that the budget affects. All of them of course, just interested in the part that concerned them. My first clue to that was when they got up and left after that section of the budget was completed. So why does no one show an interest in our local school budget?
Are they tired of the whole process and just don’t want to be bothered anymore? I can relate to that. Do they think they can’t influence the outcome of the school budget? That can’t be, as they have a much bigger say in the school budget than the city budget, as they get to vote whether to approve it or not. Do they not realize when the budget discussions are and how the approval process works? That is a distinct possibility as the school board does not follow the Maine statutes regarding notification of board meetings and committee meetings. I know a number of the school board members read this column, and I would advise them to check out Title One Chapter 13, ss402 and ss406 which reads as follows:
SS 402 Public proceedings. The term “public proceedings” as used in this subchapter means the transactions of any functions affecting any or all citizens of the State by any of the following: C. Any board, commission, agency or authority of any county, municipality, school district or any regional or other political or administrative subdivision; [1991, c. 848, §1 (AMD).]
SS 406 Public notice shall be given for all public proceedings as defined in section 402, if these proceedings are a meeting of a body or agency consisting of three or more persons. This notice shall be given in ample time to allow public attendance and shall be disseminated in a manner reasonably calculated to notify the general public in the jurisdiction served by the body or agency concerned.
I’m sure there are reasons for the school budget being what it is, but I as a taxpayer, would like to have that information so I can make my own informed decision on whether I agree with it or not before I have to vote to approve it. I’ve seen this year’s budget figures based on last year’s budget but I haven’t seen any of the actual expenditures. It’s tough trying to come up with a decision without having that information.
The last time there was a ballot for just the school budget; there were only 159 people who actually went out to vote. Does that mean the citizens of Caribou are not interested in our educational system? I think it is due more to the fact that people are not aware of the process and have not seen or do not understand the information that has been provided or not been provided. Since the school board accounts for approximately 45 percent of your tax bill, maybe it’s time for all of us to start getting a little more involved and informed about our educational system. See you at the superintendent’s office tonight at 7 o’clock.
“What have you done today to make Caribou a better place to live?”
This column is strictly the opinion or view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Caribou’s administration staff, its employees, or other council members. Gary Aiken may be reached at garyaiken@hotmail.com.
