By Dominik Lobkowicz
Jefferson selectmen Greg Johnston (left) and Jigger Clark (center) with moderator Don Means at a public hearing held March 12 on Jefferson’s annual town meeting referendum. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
A public hearing March 12 on Jefferson’s upcoming annual town meeting was lightly attended and quickly dispatched, but voters will give their final say by referendum on Tuesday, March 31.
The town’s municipal budget is proposed and recommended by the town selectmen and budget committee at $729,600, an increase of $20,784 or 2.93 percent over 2014.
Most lines in the proposed budget are flat, and the bulk of the increase is due to proposed raises for town office staff.
Town Clerk Lynne Barnikow would receive a 6 percent raise, and the salary line for the two deputy clerks is proposed at $46,000, up $11,500 or one third over 2014, and would increase the deputy clerks’ hourly rate to $15.
Most other area towns are paying at least $16 an hour for deputy clerk positions, Selectman Chair Greg Johnston said previously.
The only proposed decrease in the budget is for town office maintenance at $3,000, down from $4,500 last year.
The town’s share of the Nobleboro-Jefferson Transfer Station is proposed to increase $4,684 to $101,004. The budget also includes increases of $1,000 or less to the employee benefits, streetlights, Jefferson Fire & Rescue, and animal control lines.
The budget categories are proposed at $265,552 for administration, $169,804 for protection and health, $285,544 for roads and highways, and $8,700 for unclassified expenses.
Other financial items
One of the biggest single items on the warrant is an article asking to appropriate $200,526 from surplus to pay off a 20-year loan for the town’s fire station.
According to the article’s explanation, it will save the town $31,745 in interest.
“We just want to pay it off and get it done with,” Johnston said at the public hearing.
Another article asks to appropriate up to $98,500 to repair and expand the town’s sand and salt shed.
According to selectmen, the expansion will allow for more sand to be put up before the winter season, possibly avoiding the need to buy sand mid-season.
Sand put up mid-season can also freeze together, according to Road Commissioner Alan Johnston.
Alan Johnston estimated the expansion would accommodate around an additional 1,000 yards of material.
According to Selectman Jigger Clark, payback on the investment could vary depending on the needs of coming winters.
“At least it’s coming from surplus, we’re not asking for [additional] tax dollars,” Clark said.
Jefferson had $2,266,638 in undesignated funds at the end of 2014, according to the town’s 2014 annual report.
Three articles in the warrant ask to raise or use funding for roadwork in town.
The requests include using $44,976 in a grant from the state for reconstruction work on Atkins and Valley Road, and raising and appropriating an additional $9,500 for work on Atkins Road and $3,000 for work on County Road.
Paving on the Atkins Road began in 2014, and once the road is complete the remaining funds would be used on Valley Road, starting on the Route 126 end, Greg Johnston said.
Outside agencies such as the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association and the American Red Cross are requesting a total of $9,039 in donations from Jefferson.
By organization, the individual amounts are unchanged from donations approved last year. An article requesting funds for the Jefferson Area Food Bank was not included on the warrant this year. The couple who runs the food bank is going to step down this year and the future of the food bank is uncertain.
Jefferson’s annual town meeting referendum is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, with polling hours open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Jefferson Fire Station on Waldoboro Road.
Information on candidates running for office in Jefferson will be included in the March 26 edition of The Lincoln County News.
