FF begins number crunching

9 years ago

    FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine A proposed budget for next year in Fort Fairfield is currently projecting a revenue deficit.

Under a proposal by town manager Jim Risner, Fort Fairfield’s spending for 2016-17 would increase 1.6 percent to $5.04 million, with revenue estimated to grow 1 percent, to $4.9 million.
“I’m projecting a $42,309 deficit,” Risner said at a public budget meeting. “But as you look through the different departments, you’ll see the town staff is working very hard to keep expenses down.”
For local governments that set property taxes after their councils pass budgets, “it’s not unusual for budgets to include a deficit,” Risner said.
Fort Fairfield’s council will vote on a budget June 15, effective for July 1. Property valuation estimates will come in mid-August, along with the mill rate, which the council will set at the September 20 meeting. For the current year, the town’s mill rate is $21.70.
Risner said he has calculated revenue estimates for next year conservatively, using a lower valuation than the 2015-16 tax year.
“While I’m projecting a deficit, this would be a surplus of $6,691 if I had used last year’s valuation,” Risner said.
“I want to show a true picture of the budget to show a deficit, so if we had to do a mill rate increase to cover that, we could do that, or we could cut into some departments.”
The town’s budget is set to save $9,661 in administrative costs and $4,445 in police costs next year, Risner said.
In other areas, the budget includes increases for public works, recreation, insurance and the county tax. Public works employees are due for wage increases and the recreation department also has to complete state-mandated safety certification. Risner also moved the town’s community center bond payment from the reserve account to the “other” budget line.
Fort Fairfield’s largest budget item, School Administrative District 20, is increasing by 1.9 percent, to $2.08 million. “I give credit to the school board and superintendent for working very hard to keep that number as low as they could,” Risner said.
A second budget hearing is set for May 18 at 6 p.m. before the town council meeting.