MADAWASKA, Maine — Officials from the Madawaska Select Board and finance committee discussed the annual budget during an April 8 meeting, with many departments seeing slight increases. The town could also see a potentially large increase in its share of county taxes.
The town included estimates in the meeting packet provided by Aroostook County Administrator Ryan Pelletier, who wrote in mid-March that county officials have not started the budget process and will not likely have a firm number until the end of April.
Pelletier wrote in the email that he had Aroostook County Finance Director Dana Gendreau run projections based on the 2025 state valuations for the scenarios of 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent budget increases over the previous year.
Madawaska budgeted $650,062 for county taxes in its 2024-25 fiscal year. If the county sees a 20 percent budget increase, it could result in a total commitment of $903,697, or an increase of $253,635. The lower estimates of 10 percent and 15 percent would result in a respective $828,315 and $866,229 commitment.
Finance Committee Chairperson Jean Thomas asked if the $253,635 increase would be a worst case scenario. Selectboard Chair Jason Boucher confirmed this and said the final number could be lower, but both agreed that this is unlikely.
Town Manager David Daigle said the town could also invite Pelletier to a future meeting to discuss the county budget.
Other areas of the intergovernmental budget saw slight reductions. The town’s contribution to the Valley Recycling Facility went down by $8,914 and its street light cost went down by $2,500. This is due to the town’s use of solar energy offsetting some of those costs.
Daigle said he and town officials are concerned about the potential future unpredictability of electric costs due to the ongoing trade war with Canada.
“There are impending tariffs,” he said. “There are things that we’re not in control of that we can’t possibly forecast, but we did bring down the electrical costs a little bit.”
St. John Valley Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Director Jessica Blalock gave a brief presentation with a budget request of $15,000 — the same amount funded as last year. She included a year in review in the meeting packet highlighting some of the chamber’s activities last year, which includes hosting networking events, assisting with the Acadian festival and hosting ribbon cuttings for new businesses.
Madawaska Acadian Festival Committee Chair Danielle Hebert requested $18,000 for this year’s Acadian Festival, with the hope of being able to put some money away to help save for the upcoming 50th anniversary festival in 2028.
The town voted to reduce this to $17,000, given the current financial uncertainties.
The town set aside $15,000 for the festival committee last year and its total costs were $58,000. The remainder was raised via sponsors and partnerships. This year, one member of the festival committee in the audience said it is unclear if they will receive the same amount of sponsorships given the current financial crisis.
Regardless, Hebert said that they will make sure that the Acadian Festival happens this year.
The town also discussed the pollution control budget, which will only see an overall increase of $16,3092. Parks and building maintenance expenses are also expected to see an increase of $37,223.
The next joint meeting of the Select Board and finance committee is scheduled for April 15 at 5:30 pm, during which officials will discuss the proposed ambulance and public works budgets.
