‘Non-necessary’ services important to Caribou

The Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the addition of Bennett Drive Redemption to membership of the Chamber. The thriving redemption center is a popular destination in this city and was recently purchased by Mathew D. Holabird from the previous owners. The business has always been known for their quickness, accuracy and friendly service and that is certainly the continued goal of Holabird.
As a previous, long-term employee of Plourde Furniture, Holabird has a strong influence of what good service means from that time. Holabird is enthusiastic, has a great personality and is just the sort of hard-working person to take over such a successful, well-established business. Welcome! And thank you!
Caribou Friends For Scouting will be hosting its seventh annual golf tournament at the Caribou Country Club on Saturday, June 21. The event is a four-person scramble and costs $100 a team. Registration is from 7 to 8 that morning and a shotgun start will begin at 8 a.m. You can pre-register at the Caribou Country Club by calling the club at 493-3933.
Golf tournaments are always fun and this is a major fundraising event for the organization. Go out and have a good time, play some golf and support a great organization!
Don’t forget our first Thursdays on Sweden scheduled rain or shine for June 12 from 6-9 p.m. Spud Speedway and Big Cheese Pizza & More are this event’s sponsors as Spud Speedway begins its week-long 50th Anniversary celebrations.
I am going to get a little political here. It’s not often wise for a Chamber director to stick his foot in those shark-infested waters. But I am a taxpayer in Caribou too and things concern me a great deal. The current property tax bill I will pay this year might exceed $4,000. That’s a lot of money. And this is despite the city budget as presented being $457,015 less than where it was two years ago. The city is running as lean as it can get.
But forces beyond the city office’s control have occurred to put increasing stress on the tax rate. For one, the state government has chosen to balance the budget on the backs of property tax payers by reducing and threatening to end the revenue sharing programs they have promised. Another factor is consistent increases the county assesses the city each year, and of course, the school budget, which is separate from the portion of city management but adds up to half of our property taxes.
Naturally, the City Council is very concerned about the mil rate and the burden on the taxpayers. The council realizes that the budget is cut as far as it can be cut and maintain current services. They are looking for your input and as such will be presenting a survey questionnaire at the Primary and municipal election at the Caribou Wellness Center on June 10. The survey will no doubt ask questions about what are deemed “unnecessary” expenses such as the library, the recreation department, the Nylander Museum and the Chamber of Commerce and whether the taxpayers want to continue having the city pay for them. I think that’s a great idea since those who show up at the council meetings have a narrow agenda and are a minute part of the population of the city.
As a taxpayer, I welcome the opportunity to answer the council’s questions and am glad they are asking. I have my own ideas, of course, and want to point out some things about these “unnecessary” expenses.
Whenever I drive by the Caribou Library, the parking lot is full. I grew up with libraries as a place to explore and to grow. The Caribou Library has done a great job maintaining services despite cuts of staff and has brought the library into the 21st century. The library is also the repository of many family histories that are invaluable to genealogists and the basement houses the archives of old newspapers and city records.
The library makes up 2.28 percent of the current budget and if you have a $100,000 house, it cost you $13.14 of your tax bill. Double that if your property is worth $200,000.
The Caribou Recreation Department is one of the crown jewels of the city. It adds an attractive draw to our area. It provides activities for our children and fun fitness alternatives for adults and the elderly. It is also one of the main selling points to recruiters for medical staff at Cary Medical Center and at Pines Health Centers.
The Recreation Department makes up 4.5 percent of the city’s budget. If you have a property valued at $100,000, then the recreation department costs you $22.57 of your total property tax bill.
The Nylander Museum has already lost its staff and operating costs. It remains open so long at the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce is allowed to reside there. It currently costs the city $13,000 a year to maintain or 0.10 percent of the $8,698,999 budget. The Nylander is a legacy the city should maintain and if your property is valued at $100,000, then the Nylander costs you $3.28 or about the cost of a latte.
Of course, the Chamber is concerned for the Nylander, not only because I personally believe in his legacy (the man is known in academic circles all over the country), but because the building provides us the perfect office and allows visitors to come visit the Chamber and tour the museum. It’s perfect.
That brings me down to the Chamber itself. The city used to fund the Chamber to $150,000 or more. We can all agree that was ridiculous. That amount is down to $20,000 as a contribution to the Chamber. I think it speaks to the fact the Chamber brings in hundreds to the town during City-Wide Yard Sales, Arts & Craft Festival and other events throughout the year. The Chamber also promotes the city and its local organizations and member businesses and is a fairly cheap public relations firm for the area.
That $20,000 contribution that is so important to our puny $69,000 budget, is 0.23 percent of the city budget and if you have a $100,000 valued property, that costs you $5.04 or less than the cost of a “five-dollar-foot-long” at Subway when you add in sales tax.
The point I am making is that these “non-necessary” expenses are part of what makes Caribou … well … Caribou. The library, recreation department, Nylander and Chamber cost you a total of $44.02 for every $100,000 of property value. These nonessential services are not the problem and cutting them or losing them would severely lower our community profile.
Let me put it another way. My property taxes have gone up drastically since I moved into my current house. Is that a burden? It sure is. It is one thing to pay more to get the same product. It is another to pay more to get less product. We have already paid more and lost many of our street lights and had less care to our area roads. We are already getting less. And now, the idea is to have us pay more to get even less again.
I compare it to paying $1 for a Hershey chocolate bar. Now raise the price of the candy bar to $1.25 but fill the chocolate bar with air bubbles and make it a bit smaller. Who wants to pay 25 percent more for a candy bar that has less chocolate to actually enjoy?
Please consider these things carefully when presented with the City Council’s survey. This is our democracy and your voice should be heard no matter how you choose to answer, but please note that the City Council will proceed in the future in a large part based on what they receive from your answers.
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or email him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.