By Kathy Onorato
Coming as no surprise, Wiscasset property owners will see an increase in their tax bills, as the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen set the town’s mil rate at $17.00, a 4.6 percent hike over last year’s $16.20 mil rate.
The $17 mil rate determines the tax per $1,000 of assessed property value. For example, a Wiscasset property owner who owns property valued at $100,000 would receive a tax bill of $1,700, $80 more than last year.
Voters approved a municipal budget of $5,284,835 in May. The town also received a county tax bill in the amount of $510,121.76 and the local share of the school budget totaled $6,918,860. After deducting anticipated revenue, $7,708,534 had to be raised from taxes.
In May, Wiscasset voters approved taking $1.25 million from the town’s reserve fund to help offset taxes, which were once projected to increase by about 27 percent, due to the nearly $2 million increase in the school budget.
At their meeting Sept. 16, the selectmen voted to take an additional $300,000 from the general fund balance to further offset the tax burden.
Selectman Bill Barnes expressed concern for people struggling to pay taxes and said another increased tax bill will put even more burden on them and suggested the board consider taking more from the general fund balance to further offset the tax increase.
Town Manager Marian Anderson she would hesitate to support any more than $300,000. Currently the general fund balance is approximately $900,000. Chairman Pamela Dunning said the town’s auditor has suggested the town maintain a $1.6 million fund balance, which could cover approximately two months of town expenditures.
Bottle collection policy
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Wiscasset Transfer Station Supervisor Ron Lear offers suggestions of alternative bottle bin locations. (Kathy Onorato photo) |
A new policy will be developed around the bottle collection for nonprofit organizations at the Wiscasset Transfer Station, but in the meantime the bottle collections will continue with a few changes effective immediately.
Anderson told the board Sept. 15 she has spent some time researching existing policies of other towns around bottle collection on town-owned properties.
“Sometimes you ask questions and don’t like the answers,” Anderson said.
Anderson said these organizations must show proof of insurance, which would relieve the town of liability should a member of the organization be injured at the transfer station while collecting its bottles. This type of insurance is not expensive, Anderson said.
Another immediate change will be the location of the bottle bins, which are located in the work space of transfer station workers. She said during a recent visit to the transfer station she witnessed how the staff had to work around the bottle collection containers.
For now, Transfer Station Supervisor Ron Lear said he would find an alternative place for the bins. He also recommended that consideration be given to uniformity of the bins as the town develops a policy.
Other considerations the board discussed was limiting the number of bins each organization should have, creating an application process for those wishing to have a bin, and coming up with a fair way to determine how long a group can collect bottles.
Barnes, who is in the bottle redemption business and raised the issue back in August, maintains the revenue from collecting bottles on town property should be used to reduce the budget.
He said he collects the bottles from the Boothbay Transfer Station and said the town of Boothbay received $10,000 from bottle collections last year.
Speaking for the American Legion, Cmdr. William Cossette told the board his organization is dependent on the bottle donations to help fund the organization’s community programs.
“I get a little upset with Mr. Barnes, who is in the bottle redemption business, for raising the issue. I think it’s a conflict of interest,” Cossette said.
Over the past several years, the bottle collection bins have generated revenue for nonprofits, including The American Legion, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the St. Philip’s Episcopal Church food pantry, the town of Wiscasset, and the Wiscasset Heat cheering squad. According to Anderson, two additional organizations have requested permission to collect returnables at the transfer station.
“Coming up with a policy will be challenging,” Anderson said. “They do great things for our community.”
Other business
The selectmen tabled a suggestion from the code enforcement officer to implement a $20 processing fee for home-based business applicants, which is common practice in most towns, Anderson said.
Anderson told the board $20 is an inexpensive rate compared to other towns, and covers the cost of administration.
“I hate to put another fee on a small business,” Dunning said.
