Madawaska residents on June 23 will vote on a $10.5 million municipal expense budget during the town’s annual meeting.
The budget represents a $267,632 increase over the current approved town expense budget of $10.24 million.
The increases are primarily due to salary and benefits additions over the previous year, Madawaska Town Manager David Daigle said. Several town departments as a result saw slight increases ranging from a few thousand dollars to around $75,000.
“Salary and benefits include a 3% [cost of living adjustment] and an earned benefits time increase,” he said. “Earned benefits is a retention incentive program whereby employees receive an increase based on the amount of years an individual works here, anywhere from .5%-2.5% increase over time.”
The town’s debt service will rise by $212,044 due to multiple items, including including $64,710 for a sidewalk snowblower, $61,755 for the midtown revitalization project, and $51,821 for a 2027 International plow truck.
Aside from debt service, the two largest departmental increases were for the ambulance and police department, which increased by $77,393 and $73,471, respectively. Code enforcement and governing body expenses saw respective reductions of $11,825 and $7,081.
The town anticipates a rise in revenue by $235,747, primarily due to a $600,000 transfer from the undesignated fund balance.
Salaries and benefits make up approximately 46% of the budget, according to the town’s expense budget summary.
The Madawaska School Department budget, which is separate from the town’s municipal budget, is also seeing a slight increase at $10.1 million. That budget was recently approved during a regional meeting and is slated for a June 9 referendum vote.
The annual town meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, in the Madawaska High School cafeteria.
