Waldoboro’s municipal budget was finally resolved on Nov. 5 after voters got behind and fully passed a proposal largely supported by both the board of selectmen and the town’s budget committee.
The vote was the third budget vote Waldoboro has held this year after the police department and finance and customer service budgets failed to pass in June, and a vote in September to accommodate a $106,000 reduction of anticipated state revenue sharing failed as well.
There were no close votes on any of the eight articles on the ballot, with the 528 to 293 vote favoring the $176,576 for the finance and customer service department (Article 2) being the closest.
Article 3, $586,884 for the Waldoboro Police Department, passed 538 to 288. The amount incorporates a $49,411 cut of a patrolman position and $5290 in savings in health insurance, reduced overtime and reserve officer utilization.
Article 4, $695,039 for public works passed 653 to 166. The amount is a $9159 reduction from the budget voters passed in June, to be accommodated through reduced overtime.
Article 5, a $65,499 planning and development budget incorporating $8830 in savings from the new director being hired after the fiscal year began, passed 659 to 162.
Article 6, a reduction of “Intergovernmental Revenues” by $106,000 to $234,463 to reflect the anticipated revenue sharing reduction, passed 709 to 108.
Article 7, an increase of $5600 to $121,526 for “Other Financing Sources,” to come from public works employees performing part of a transfer station construction project, passed 634 to 184.
Article 8, appropriating $25,000 of the town’s undesignated fund balance to reduce the tax rate, passed 674 to 114.
Article 9, which changed the first semi-annual due date for taxes from Nov. 15 to Dec. 3, passed 609 to 158.
The change was proposed because the earliest property owners could expect tax bills after commitment, now that all the other articles passed Nov. 5, would be only days before the taxes were due, officials said previously.
With those results, the town’s municipal budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 is $3,710,002, offset by $204,000 in anticipated revenue sharing and $1,673,061 in other revenue, according to town documents.
The board of selectmen are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. to set the tax commitment.
According to background documentation for the meeting, Town Manager John Spear is recommending the selectmen set the town’s mil rate at $13.80 per $1000 in valuation, an increase over last year’s $13.50 per $1000.
The mil rate would include an overlay of $236,878.28.
In the documentation, Spear said the town’s strategy to rebuild its undesignated fund balance to the $1 million range is well ahead of schedule, and while a $13.60 per $1000 rate would keep the plan on track, it would provide “little or no cushion.”
“Three years is a long time, and a lot of unforeseen events can transpire,” Spear wrote.
The total tax commitment for the town at Spear’s recommended mil rate would be $7,256,186, an increase of $176, 454.
