FORT KENT, Maine — The Fort Kent Town Council set the annual mill rate to 22.95 during a July 22 meeting. The mill rate represents a 1.95 increase over last year’s mill rate of 21.
Fort Kent Town Manager Suzie Paradis presented the board with three options during the meeting. The first would be to set the mill rate to 22.88 with an overlay of roughly $1,200. The second option was to set the mill rate to 22.95 and the overlay to $21,476.
The third option was to set the mill rate to 23, giving the town a $35,911 overlay.
The town’s overlay last year was around $30,000, but has been in the $21,000 range in previous years, Paradis said, adding she would be receptive to going with either the second or third option.
While the town’s budget did go up, the bulk of the higher mill rate came from increases in the Aroostook County and school budgets, which the town council does not control, she said.
Fort Kent’s portion of the MSAD 27 school budget increased by $322,651. Last year, it was $3,319,894. This year, the town’s share of the budget is $3,642,545.
Paradis distributed a pie chart at the meeting showing that MSAD costs make up 60 percent of the town’s expenses this year.
Fort Kent’s municipal departments take up 18 percent and Aroostook County government takes up 10 percent of the town’s overall budget, according to the chart.
The Aroostook County budget increased for all communities this year, partly because county officials switched from a calendar to a fiscal budget year.
Fort Kent’s County government budget increased by $158,259, going from $443,813 last year to $602,072 this year.
This year’s county budget included two new deputy sheriff officers and a dispatcher. These positions are a response to police department closures in Van Buren and Limestone.
At the time the budget was passed, the county was also temporarily covering the town of Washburn. Shortly after the county budget was passed, Washburn residents voted to disband their police department, meaning the county will now permanently cover the town.
The town’s municipal budget increased by $71,849 this year, going from $1,046,079 to $1,117,928.
The town didn’t see any major increases on the municipal side this year, Paradis said. The increases they did see are due to fixed costs such as labor and union contracts and health insurance.
