Municipal budget held at 23.5 mils
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — City Council unanimously approved the 2013 budget Monday night with total municipal appropriations totaling $10,863,303 — this covers each department’s expenses and expected revenue for the coming year. While SAD 1 and county figures won’t be known until around June of next year, the estimated 2013 municipal appropriation is $11,989,072.
The meeting, which lasted approximately two hours, was the culmination of much debate, with several workshops held over the past few months at which councilors looked for ways to maintain adequate services while maintaining a flat tax rate. Their approval of the budget Monday night will keep the city’s mil rate at $23.50 per $1,000 in valuation.
One of the biggest issues discussed this fall has been staffing at the Presque Isle Fire Department. Staffing will remain as it has been over the past six months or so, with two shifts handled by four firefighters each, and the third shift by a three-person crew aided by part-time help — at least into 2013, when the issue will likely be reviewed again. City officials will continue to look into the student firefighter program but won’t know until sometime next year whether there’s enough interest to make it worthwhile to continue.
Also discussed was the Pay-As-You-Throw program, with plans to increase garbage bag prices dropped. Bag prices will remain the same; however, blue bags will be sold separately in packs of five at a cost of 80 cents per package. Another change on the solid waste side of the budget was the elimination of the subsidy provided last year on the commercial side, effectively raising the rate from $97.50 to $112.50 per ton.
Councilors at Monday’s session tried several times to pass the budget, as proposed, in its entirety but failed to reach agreement on various aspects. At that point, City Manager Jim Bennett recommended breaking things down and voting on smaller components to get the ball rolling.
“It seems everyone’s in favor of what’s in white on the operational side. So if that’s the case, you could make the motion to amend everything in white. Then you could work on the rest piece by piece, so you could get some momentum,” said Bennett.
Councilors began by unanimously approving more than a dozen items, including funds for health insurance and solid waste closure and equipment reserves.
Discussion continued, with the group talking over the pros and cons of reducing a position at the recycling center from three-quarter time to half-time, which would save money by eliminating the need to provide benefits due to a drop in hours worked. Also debated was the need for a third assessor. Councilors subsequently approved the reduction in hours for the solid waste position, while voting to keep the assessor. They agreed more needed to be done to ascertain current value of property within the city, especially on the commercial side.
With regard to capital reserves, councilors eliminated funding for all but one item on the list — $6,000 for decking at the indoor pool. Items put on the back burner for now included renovations at city hall, funds to replace an aging fire truck, money for downtown sidewalk and light upgrades and a used vehicle for the Presque Isle Police Department for use by the animal control officer.
With agreement reached on a final figure on the municipal side of the budget, councilors then approved amendments to the 2013 budget, adopted the budget and made a motion to set the tax levy on personal and real property for the first meeting set in July 2013.
Bennett said more changes may be required, given SAD 1’s recent report that the school system may be facing a $1 million shortfall. Also, county figures won’t be known until mid-year next year. In addition, state revenue sharing remains a mystery, according to Bennett, although he’s cautiously optimistic that things are slowly changing in Augusta and that municipalities may once again be on the receiving end of some funds — though he’s not certain how much or when they’d be made available.
