New Gloucester -- It's budget season and the office
fires have been burning late as the town staff, Department
Heads, and ultimately the Town Manager Rosemary Kulow
finalized the municipal budget for transmittal to
Selectmen. The deed is done and the numbers have come
in at higher than last year but a minimal increase
taking the last two years together, said Ms. Kulow.
The proposed budget at this moment in time, and it
will change as both the Selectmen and the Budget Advisory
Committee work on it, would be an increase of 22 cents
per thousand dollars of valuation. Last year's total
tax rate including school and overlay was 10.0, the
proposal this year stands at 10.22 now.
The Selectmen will go through the budget, then hand
it to the Budget Advisory Committee and then the Selectmen
take it back one more time for a final go-around before
voters decide in May at Town meeting whether they
accept the budget as prepared.
The total municipal expenditure budget for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2007 increases by 20.2% or $731,567 over
FY 2006 expenditures. This increase is due to increases
in utilities, fuel, and heating oil, proposed compensation
for Fire Department and Rescue personnel when they
respond to calls, a 9% increase in health insurance,
and some Capital improvement items that would be paid
from taxes.
Manager Kulow is requesting 1.4 million in capital
projects. The Capital Improvement Committee had worked
very hard, Ms. Kulow said, to consider and rank the
many capital expenditure recommendations. About half
of those ranked made the Manager's final recommendation,
and there was a mixture of funding from capital reserves
and taxes.
The capital expenditure recommendations from capital
reserves are; the first phase of the new Fire Station,
a Universal Waste Storage building, a communication
system for Public Works, a Dump/Plow truck, and a
backhoe. Capital expenditure requests with funding
from taxes were Fire Department equipment, garage
upgrade, Woodman Road reconstruction, future land
and building purchases, paving, and vehicles.
This year the Board of Selectmen allowed a parameter
for salaries that included cost of living adjustment
and up to 2% for possible merit increases. Ms. Kulow
said that although the Social Security Administration
cost of living adjustment is 4.1% as of January 2006,
she is recommending 3.2% to help keep costs down.
"With fixed costs rising out of control, pressures
for services increasing, and a tax cap to contend
with, we are forced to use the Undesignated Fund more
than usual. Fortunately the UFB increased by more
than $650,000 from FY 05 to FY06, so we are able to
apply that amount to the budget," Ms. Kulow said.
The Selectmen will review the budget at a workshop
on Monday, January 30. This is a public meeting and
all are invited to attend. For more information about
the budget, or to confirm the workshop date and time,
call Town office at 926-4126.
