Voters approve an article at Dresden’s annual town meeting the evening of Tuesday, June 18 at Dresden Elementary School. Nearly 55 voters attended the meeting and approved every article on the warrant. (Piper Pavelich photo)
Dresden voters approved every warrant article, including a $1.7 million municipal budget, during the town’s annual meeting the evening of Tuesday, June 18.
Nearly 55 voters gathered in the Dresden Elementary School gym, passing the 36 articles on this year’s warrant with little to no discussion.
The municipal budget approved during the meeting totals $1,782,446, an increase of $40,221.94 or 2.30% from last year.
Voters established a reserve fund and appropriated $80,000 as the first of three payments toward a revaluation. A sum of $255,000 will be raised and appropriated over a three-year period, with the revaluation taking place during the 2027 fiscal year, according to Dresden Select Board members.
While Dresden officials said they proposed a minimal municipal budget that aims to lessen the impact on taxpayers, residents will be seeing a few increases in operation costs for the 2025 fiscal year.
The protection budget is $145,651, an increase of $29,114 or 24.98%. This change can be attributed to a rise in funding for firefighter pay and training, according to Dresden Select Board member Lisa Hewitt, as well as an increase in the town’s ambulance contract budget, which totals $77,751, an increase of $8,614 or 12.46%. The town contracts with Wiscasset Ambulance Service.
The town administration budget is $158,500, an increase of $28,000 or 21.45%. The town will be making a one-time purchase for computer software, raising that portion of the administration budget to $25,000, an increase of $9,000 or 56.25%. This increase can also be attributed to a rise in funding for audit services, a portion of the administration budget that totals $20,000, an increase of $9,000 or 81.81%.
The highways budget is $456,500, an increase of $70,054 or 18.13%. The budget for gravel and culvert maintenance, which totals $34,000, was expensed under the capital improvement projects budget for the 2024 fiscal year; however, select board members decided those items belonged in the highways budget, said Hewitt. This budget increase can also be attributed to a rise in cost and need for tree removal and brush cutting along the town’s highways.
From left: Dresden Town Administrator Nicole Rogers, Dresden Select Board members Don Gleason and Lisa Hewitt, and town meeting moderator Richard Ross at Dresden’s annual town meeting the evening of Tuesday, June 18 in the Dresden Elementary School gym. (Piper Pavelich photo)
The charitable contributions budget is $18,250, an increase of $2,000 or 12.30%. The town received a request for $2,000 for maintenance of Bridge Academy’s pickleball court, an expense that has not previously appeared in the budget.
Elsewhere in the municipal budget, the municipal buildings budget totals $61,300, an increase of $3,050 or 5.24%; and the salaries budget totals $275,500, an increase of $5,700 or 2.11%.
The debt service budget is $39,399, no change from last year. This budget reflects a yearly payment to the Maine Municipal Bond Bank for money borrowed to build the town’s fire station.
The capital improvements budget is $216,445, a decrease of $158,555 or 42.28%. This drop can be attributed to the budget for gravel and culvert maintenance being moved to the highways budget, as well as a reduced amount of capital improvement projects planned for the town.
The cemeteries budget totals $8,900, a decrease of $3,100 or 25.83%. At last year’s town meeting, voters advocated for an additional $2,000, making the cemeteries budget $12,000 for the current fiscal year. The select board decided to lower the budget back down for the 2025 fiscal year, and, despite voters voicing disapproval of the budget’s decrease, the article was approved.
The contingency budget totals $15,000, a decrease of $5,000 or 25%. The contingency budget is money the town has set aside to deal with unforeseen events, and select board members said they felt comfortable decreasing the budget to help minimize the total budget’s impact on taxpayers.
The solid waste budget is $35,000, a decrease of $1,000 or 2.78%.
During the town’s municipal election on Tuesday, June 11, voters elected Gary Getchell to one three-year term on the select board, and reelected Jean Blais to the RSU 2 Board of Directors. Voters also approved enacting a mineral extraction facilities and operations moratorium.
Along with the RSU 2 school district’s other three member town residents, Dresden voters validated a $29.9 million education budget during the budget validation referendum on June 11. Dresden residents are responsible for $2,356,991.30, an increase of $178,633.05 or 8.2% from last year. Dresden will contribute 14.31% of the $16,470,919.40 in local funding required from all of RSU 2’s member towns.
