By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Rough-draft figures for Limestone’s tentative 2013 budget put the town’s overall spending at approximately $1,602,000, up approximately $85,000 from last year. Should the rough-draft budget be approved by the townspeople as is currently reads, Limestone residents are looking at a mil increase of 1.5.
The 2013 rough draft budget does not take into consideration the town’s 2013 financial commitment to the Regional School Unit 39, as figures regarding that expense were not available for board members at the time of their meeting. Town Manager Donna Bernier did caution that she expects to see an increase in the school’s cost this year.
The first rough draft lists the following proposed 2013 department costs:
• Administration: $230,533, up from the $204,026 budgeted for 2012 and $197,557 budgeted in 2011. Bernier explained that the increase of the budget reflects the inclusion of an additional full-time office clerk. Insurance costs also increased, as the town has used up credits with its insurance company that had previously offset expenses. (Bernier explained that this insurance “increase” is also reflected in the public works department’s proposed 2013 budget).
• Public works: $421,530, up from the $399,140 budgeted for 2012 and $348,965 in 2011. Aside from the insurance increase, the increased budget reflects an additional $5,000 for vehicle maintenance. The selectpeople also discussed looking into turning two seasonal positions at the department into one full-time position.
• Police: $236,114, up from the $228,560 budgeted for 2012 but down from $258,152 in 2011. The increase reflects a $5,000 increase for fuel and lubrication to maintain the department’s vehicles. Selectperson Gary O’Neal expressed his desire to see the department scale down to 18-hour coverage of the town, and fellow selectperson Danny Gahagan requested that Police Chief Stacey Mahan review the department’s call log to find out which times are busiest for police officers.
• Fire: $98,854, up from the $97,330 budgeted in 2012 and slightly down from $97,732 in 2011.
• Library: $70,780, up from $67,840 budgeted for 2012 and $68,370 in 2011.
• Recreation: $94,711, up from $82,400 budgeted for 2012 and $85,270 in 2011. The increase largely reflects a roughly $10,000 increase in contracted services. Bernier explained to the selectpeople that the increase is due to transportation costs associated with renting a bus from the RSU (to drive youths to and from sporting events and field trips). For the past few months, the selectpeople have been looking into purchasing a large van for the recreation department.
• Debt retirement for the new fire station: $38,914, which has been a consistent cost. Bernier informed the selectpeople that the town is five years from having the debt paid off.
• Economic and community development: $38,000, consistent with the 2012 budget and down from $48,000 allocated in 2011.
• Insurance: $71,804, up from $62,850 for 2012 and $64,650. The increase is almost exclusively for worker’s comp, as some of the town’s employees have needed to utilize the service this past year.
• Social services: $37,160, up $100 from the last two years.
• Unclassified expenses (including contributions to the Chamber of Commerce, the town’s Fourth of July celebration, humane society fees and services for the homeless shelter): $17,668, up slightly from $17,521 in the past two years.
• Reserve accounts: $25,000, consistent with last year and up from $16,000 in 2011. The funds would allocate $10,000 for the public works reserve account, $10,000 for the library building and $5,000 for the revaluation reserve. The selectpeople suggested that $2,500 be additionally allocated for the recreation department, as they anticipate needing to replace the director’s truck in a few years.
• Solid waste: $47,500, up from $44,500 in the past two years.
• Public safety (streetlights and fire hydrants): $104,500, consistent with the past two years.
The total budget of $1,602,205 is up from $1,517,357 in 2012 and $1,497,487 in 2011.
The selectpeople also altered the timeframe of their decision to switch the town’s fire and police dispatch services from the sheriff’s department to the City of Caribou as of March 1; as the town’s antiquated phone system is undergoing replacement, the selectpeople agreed to switch dispatch services effective once the new phone system is up and operational.
According to Bernier, the old phone system was so outdated that replacement parts were simply unavailable; to replace the outdated equipment, town officials purchased a used processor to get the phone system operational again.
During the elected officials report, Gahagan praised the Police Department’s quick action in a potentially deadly situation.
Gahagan explained that last week, on one of the coldest nights of the year, a resident of the Limestone Manor wondered off the premise into the cold. The department was notified at 4 a.m., and officers immediately responded, with neighboring agencies assisting. The gentleman was found within 20 minutes. Gahagan was joined by members of the board in praising the department for their quick response.
Gahagan also informed the board that he was surprised to learn how Limestone’s part-time officers recently paid out of their own pockets to participate in a course mandatory to being police officers.
Members of the board agreed that the officers shouldn’t have had to foot the bill for the mandatory training, and agreed that the officers should be reimbursed.
The board next meets on Wednesday, March 7.
