The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen has called a third referendum style special town meeting for Tuesday, Nov. 5, to hopefully finalize the FY2014 Waldoboro municipal budget.
The meeting seeks voter approval for the finance and customer service and police department budgets as well as to make other budget adjustments to accommodate a projected $106,000 loss in state revenue sharing.
All of the articles included in the budget adjustment proposal have the unanimous support of the Selectboard and the near unanimous support of the budget committee. I, as Waldoboro Town Manager, also support this proposal and am hopeful the voters of Waldoboro will demonstrate their support as well at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Article 2 seeks approval for the finance and customer service department budget in the amount of $176,576. This is a reduction of $2710 from the amount presented at the June 11, referendum style town meeting. It also no longer includes the $69,874 associated with the office of the town clerk, as that was passed as a separate budget article at the Sept. 10 town meeting.
Article 3 seeks approval for the police department budget in the amount of $586,884. This is a reduction of $54,701 from the amount presented at the June 11 town meeting. This reduction results in the elimination of the detective position, but should allow the department to continue to provide 24/7 coverage.
Article 4 seeks voter approval to reduce the public works department budget by $9159 from the amount that was approved on June 11. This amount will be taken from the overtime budget, which is traditionally a volatile amount as it is nearly completely dependent on the severity of the winter weather.
Article 5 seeks voter approval to reduce the planning and code enforcement department budget by $8,830 from the amount approved June 11. This savings results from having a vacancy in the planning position for approximately two months
Article 6 addresses the fact that due to state budget reductions, Waldoboro is anticipated to receive $106,000 less in revenue sharing than was originally budgeted. This article adjusts the amount of revenue sharing in the town budget to reflect reductions included in the recently approved state budget.
Article 7 seeks voter approval to increase revenue under other financing sources with an inter fund transfer of $5600. It is a transfer from the transfer station account and reimburses the wages paid to public works employees who have been working on construction of “bulky waste day pads” at the town’s solid waste facility.
Article 8 seeks voter approval to appropriate $25,000 from the undesignated fund balance. This is the same amount of undesignated fund balance that was budgeted last year, but was not needed. Use of this amount does not cause a deviation from the plan to rebuild the town’s fund balance to pre-2008 levels.
A numeric summary of the proposed adjustments designed to accommodate the $106,000 reduction in state revenue sharing is as follows:
Expenditure reductions
Finance and Customer Support Department – $2710
Police Department- $54,701
Public Works Department – $9159
Planning Department – $8830
Subtotal: $75,400
Revenue Increases
Other Financing Sources – $5600
Undesignated Fund Balance – $25,000
Subtotal – $30,600
Total – $106,000
Article 9 seeks voter approval to extend the due date for the first installment payment for 2014 taxes from Nov. 15 to Dec. 3. This is proposed as it is unlikely that tax bills will be issued much before their Nov. 15 due date, given that the budget adjustments won’t be considered by the voters until Nov. 5.
In addition to eight articles or questions on the municipal ballot there will also be a state ballot with questions seeking voter approval for five state bonds.
Again, the referendum will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Waldoboro Municipal Building, 1600 Atlantic Highway.
I hope you find this information helpful and urge you to vote on Nov. 5.
(John Spear is the Waldoboro Town Manager.)
