South Bristol is preparing for the business portion of the annual town meeting Tues., March 10, where voters will see nearly 6.5 percent slashed from the budget for 2009-10.
On Mon., March 9 voters will elect one selectman and two school board members at the South Bristol School gymnasium from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Incumbent South Bristol Selectman Donald Stanley is running unopposed for another three-year term.
Tammy Plummer and Peter MacCready are finishing up their terms on the school board this year. Trudy Gamage and Timothy Dinsmore are running uncontested, hoping to fill those seats.
No bond or referendum questions are on the ballot this year. The Annual South Bristol Town Meeting will be Tues., March 10 at the South Bristol School gymnasium at 7 p.m.
At the 2009 town meeting, residents will be asked to approve a total budget of $734,108. The board of selectmen and budget committee managed to slash nearly 6.5 percent off last year’s budget total.
The South Bristol School budget is the most expensive group of articles on the 2009 warrant. This year’s total school budget is $1,646,885, down from $1,722,777 last year.
The largest potential expenditure in that portion of the warrant is $851,001 for regular instruction. That line item was reduced more than $20,000 from 2008’s budget of $871,321.
The second and third largest expense categories in the school budget are special education, $214,227, and school administration, $140,301. The special education budget was reduced by more than $34,000. The school administration budget was $139,269 in 2008, $1000 less than this year.
Article 21 would appropriate $167,331 for highway maintenance and snow removal, an increase of $34,206 from last year. South Bristol appropriated $183,125 for both in 2008.
“The increases here came from greater snow plowing and paving prices this year,” said South Bristol Administrative Assistant Beverly Eugley.
The entire $33,000 budgeted for next year’s highway maintenance will come from surplus funds if this article is approved. For snow removal in 2009 the town wishes to appropriate $134,331, with $100,000 coming from surplus, and the remaining $34,331 raised through tax revenue.
Residents will vote on total administration expenses of $146,350 at the 2009 South Bristol town meeting. Those expenses are broken down in Article 17 as town officer salaries of $68,650, town expenses, $48,300, and building and equipment maintenance is $20,000. Planning Board expenses make up the remaining $9400.
Last year, $161,050 was spent on administration. The selectmen didn’t take a pay raise this year, according to Eugley. Overall $14,700 was trimmed from this line item for 2009.
“Usually we build in a little extra just in case,” she said. “This year that extra was eliminated. We trimmed as much as we could, anything we hadn’t used, we cut.”
Fire protection expenses are proposed to be $101,900 in 2009, a reduction of $3230 from last year. Article 19 in the warrant breaks down the fire protection budget based on the type of funding used, with $57,900 from taxation and $44,000 from surplus.
The $44,000 for Fire Dept. salaries would come entirely from town surplus funds. The remaining costs for electricity ($12,200), insurance ($28,500), and town officers (i.e. Emergency Management Director ($1800), Health ($500), Code Enforcement ($12,500 with $12,297 carried over from 2008), and Animal Control ($2400)) would be appropriated from town tax revenue.
An additional $20,000 will be placed in a reserve account for fire protection equipment if voters approve Article 20. This is the exact same amount proposed to come from surplus funds in the 2008 budget.
Funding for solid waste management and operations would be $27,686 appropriated from taxes, and $100,000 from surplus if voters at town meeting approve Article 22. This department was reduced by more than $10,000 when compared to last year’s budget of $138,000 for sanitation.
In Article 23 Union 74 Adult Education requested $3172 as South Bristol’s share of the school union’s $83,775 in costs. The South Bristol Board of Selectman questioned the number of students using the service in town, and decided to appropriate $2612, last year’s amount.
Article 24 lists all donations to non-profit groups, which assist residents of South Bristol. The selectmen approved all amounts as requested, totaling $15,729 overall.
If this article is approved, the donations will be raised through taxes, $350 for Mid Coast Maine Community Action, $2700 for CLC Ambulance Service, $1264 for Spectrum Generations, $450 for Coastal Transportation, $915 for New Hope for Women, $500 for the South Bristol Historical Society, $2500 for Miles Foundation, $350 for Memorial Day, $2000 for South Bristol Little League, $2500 for CLC YMCA, $1200 for Healthy Kids!, and $1000 for the Eldercare Network.
The only requests that increased over 2008 were the CLC YMCA by $1000, and Little League, which increased by $500. Last year South Bristol allocated an additional $5000 to assist the South Bristol Historical Society with renovating the S Road School.
The Rutherford Library is requesting $4000 from South Bristol tax funds for expenses in the upcoming year, the same amount as requested in 2008.
General Assistance ($5400), Recreation ($1000), Cemeteries ($10,000), Abatements ($1500), and FICA and Medicare ($8600) make up the Unclassified Accounts of $26,500 for 2009, an increase of $1000 over last year.
Article 27 asks for $84,000 for debt service, again a zero increase from 2008.
Article 8 will authorize raising $25,000 to offer a 2 percent discount on taxes paid within 30 days of invoice.
If approved by voters, the town will raise $10,000 to cover unanticipated expenses, emergencies, and contingencies in 2009, according to Article 16.
Article 18 proposes $3000 be allocated to the comprehensive plan in 2009. Funding for the comprehensive plan was reduced by a third this year from $4500 last year.
