To the editor:
The proposed 2019 city budget is available for review and public comment. Over the years the city has been good at preparing and sticking to its budgets. However, there has been at least one notable shortcoming. The city does not conduct detailed financial analyses before it enters into new ventures such as an ambulance service in 2017 and the pending initiatives to take over street lighting from Emera and to build an airplane hangar and rent it to private citizens.
Tools for financial analysis consider such elements as cost/benefit ratio, discounted cash flow, life cycle costs, etc. These analyses are critical for evaluating alternatives and courses of action, and they have not been done in recent years. In preparing the 2019 budget, the City Council should consider developing this financial expertise in house and assigning this function to the director of finance. Detailed financial analyses will provide excellent guidance to the city manager and councilors.
A good first project in 2019 would be a financial analysis of the city’s ambulance business. After completing one full year of operation in 2018, it is important to know if the ambulance service is financially sustainable and achieving its objectives. With Caribou’s cooperation, an additional financial analysis could be done on combining the ambulance and fire services of Caribou and Presque Isle. It is possible that a single ambulance and fire service would be more cost-effective than two separate services.
Stephen Freeman
Presque Isle
