| Peter Bragdon, Candidate for Selectman |
Tonight’s selectmen meeting left my head spinning and many unanswered questions. I really try to be positive and thank the selectmen but this is chaos. It was so discouraging to watch these meetings lately. After the last meeting the selectmen asked the new town manager to see what positions she can restore to the budget. I am okay with that. There were no numbers presented to the townspeople ahead of time for tonight’s meeting – well, no correct numbers, that is. The summary sheet in the selectmen’s packet online was very inaccurate. It was stated tonight that an email to selectmen had different info. This information was not shared with the public which does not allow for any input.
The town manager came into the meeting with an unclear amount of “found revenue.” The number of $106,075 was used over and over. The sheet from the public packet showed she found extra money in the excise tax account of $100K, FEMA reimbursement of $20k, and $120k extra in state revenue. When questioned by selectmen on this she said the sheet wasn’t accurate because of formula issues. She then proposed to add back in the Planner at 36 hours, Parks and Rec Director at 36 hours and match the budget committee on the library recommendation of 36 hours for head librarian and 24 hours for assistant. She also wanted to add in $12,000 for recreation programming. All this could be done for $106,100 the board was told. This is not at all correct and possibly makes detrimental cuts even though it’s an addition.
Using rounded numbers directly from public budget information:
*Adding the assistant librarian and reducing the head librarian is $15,000 increase
*Parks and Rec Director with benefits is $62,000
*Parks and Rec programming is $12,000
*Planner with benefits is $57,000
Totaling $146,000 not $106,000 as they were told.
BUT what wasn’t clear is does this add to the already proposed recreation budget or is just funding the director and $12,000 for programs. If it doesn’t add to the already proposed recreation budget then it eliminates any coaches’ stipends positions, this eliminates cheering, flag football, soccer, gymnastics or any program that has a paid coach. These programs are the most popular and bring in revenue to be almost self supporting on a non Covid-19 year.
Towards the end of the meeting they directed the town manager to come back on Friday at 5pm with more detailed numbers and to also add in the axed public works position for $56,000 with benefits. In my eyes 5pm on a Friday night is not acceptable. Many people are now working and if they are not working that is dinner time. This is really unfair for public comment. Especially on something that is increasing the budget by $215,000.
Let me be clear, I am okay with some additions and have been since the start. I moved the budget committee to a compromise of 36/24 for the library; I also support the Town Planner at 36 hours and the Parks and Rec at only 20 hours. But we were told to cut, we were shown data over and over that the funds were not there. We tried and tried and tried; roads led to no. The selectmen agreed, the budget committee agreed, the town manager agreed, the budget advisor agreed. Hundreds of hours were spent on this. Every line was looked at and cut. And now where are we at? I had tried earlier in the process to even add $2000 for parks and recreation programs and was told no. The board voted just a couple weeks ago to not even add $400 in for Halloween events in lower village. Now they are adding in $215k!
The town budget is usually adopted by now, well over a month ago. This year, we still don’t know where the budget is at. It is due to be voted by ballot on July 14th or by absentee ballot up to 30 days prior, which is next week.
Back to the found revenue. We are not guaranteed the FEMA funds and they should not be used as part of an operational budget. Using extra excise tax is a risk, research was put into this, car dealers were surveyed and other towns were checked. The numbers didn’t lie that it will be down and possibly more than we predicted. She is also recommending full state revenue sharing. The state is very far in debt with this budget. I was told by a high ranking member in Augusta that revenue sharing (money sent from the state) will not be fully funded unless the federal funds are used. As I don’t believe President Trump will allow Covid-19 funds to be used to balance a state budget, it is a risk to predict this funding. This leaves the undesignated fund; do we take money from there? Or do we raise taxes?
Why did we hire an interim town manger with knowledge of the town to get us through budget season? Why did we hire a budget advisor with almost 30 years of town leadership experience to get us through budget? Why hasn’t the budget advisor been involved in this process? It is my understanding that several offers were made to provide information and the offer was not accepted. The public lined up and spoke against cuts, some spoke in favor of more cuts. There was no give by the board or management. Staff has been in limbo for weeks not knowing what is happening July 1 and if they will have a job, and they still don’t know.
With this all said, your input will be needed on Friday at 5 pm. It will be by Zoom. I am not sure when the numbers will be released and/or if they will be before the meeting. They are planning to sign the town meeting warrant Friday night and we are still making huge changes to the budget. The budget will be adopted by ballot eliminating public input other than voting yes or no.
