| Joanne Cole |
After eight workshops—three held jointly with the Budget Committee and five more among themselves and key staff—the Select Board has roughed out a draft FY23-24 budget. Find it on the Budget Committee page of the town website at this link.
The draft budget now goes to the nine-resident Budget Committee for review. The committee is advisory-only and is scheduled to convene on February 27 and March 1. The Select Board will then consider the committee’s recommendations and finalize the budget in time for voters at Town Meeting in May.
The bottom line for most taxpayers—what’s the mil rate and what will next year’s tax bill look like?—can’t be known until the town, county and MSAD 15 budgets are set. But the board’s draft budget and discussions shed light on the board’s view of the town’s finances and on their values and priorities, including about staffing.
Along with inflation-related increases in fuel, power, road salt, supplies and more, the manager’s initial budget, built from conversations with department heads, included several added staff positions or hours. Department heads told the board and Budget Committee of being short-handed, stretched thin, or losing employees to better-paying towns.
Of increases, the staffing requests in particular appeared to draw pushback from within the board, and reductions. Now the Budget Committee gets its turn to assess the budget–staff, salt, supplies, paving, plowing, repairs, reserves, revenues and all.
With apologies for length, here’s an overview of the Select Board draft budget with key points from the budget discussions so far.
The big picture. In December, the board asked Manager Bill Kerbin to aim for a budget with something like a five percent overall increase for departments, exclusive of utilities, and a three percent max wage increase for staff.
The $12,749,482 budget Kerbin brought back–town, county, schools included–met the overall target, with spending coming in lower than in last year’s budget (that is, for FY22-23). But with projected revenues lower than last year, a tax rate increase was in the cards. To lessen it, the manager’s budget used $600,000 from the town’s Undesignated Fund Balance. The result was an increase in the mil rate from the current $13.80 to $14.42 per thousand dollars of valuation – again, an estimate.
Presenting the numbers, Kerbin offered to return to the departments to have them make cuts if the board gave him a target. Instead, the board undertook its own customary line-by-line review.
After several workshops and many adjustments up and down, the board reduced spending by $302,000 to $12,447,063 in their draft budget. It uses $500,000 from the Undesignated Fund to offset taxation. The resulting mil rate is now $13.78 – basically flat but, again, not yet final. Of that $13.78, the municipal budget accounts for $3.67, MSAD 15 for $9.45 and Cumberland County for 66 cents – again, not final.
The board’s draft budget has town operations at $4.5 million, up from $4.2 million last year, with the top four, Public Works, Fire Rescue, Insurance (medical benefits) and Administration (includes Manager, Finance Director and Town Office staff), accounting for more than half of the total. Of those lines, Insurance had the largest percentage increase over last year, 10 percent, and Public Works the lowest, at five percent.
The draft budget also includes $755,000 for capital projects and reserves, has $378,000 for paving, and $441,000 for debt service, mainly for the Public Works garage and Stevens Brook project.
The revenue picture. So far, the board has focused almost exclusively on spending, but the revenue side of the equation deserves a word. Spending can be tracked to the penny over years, providing a solid foundation for forecasting; revenues are less predictable but still impactful.
At a recent budget workshop, Finance Director Lori-Anne Wilson described the revenue projections in the draft FY24 budget as “very conservative.” Can revenue estimates ever be too conservative, or is it always better to be safe than sorry but paying more in taxes? The Select Board has typically chosen caution.
Revenues are running ahead of projections again this year, Wilson told the board. As a result, she expects the town won’t need all of this year’s $500,000 planned draw from the Undesignated Fund. That was also the case last year, even with significant spending for ‘extra’ paving.
Federal ARPA funds have helped, as have increases in state revenue-sharing, which takes a slice of Maine’s sales and income taxes and redistributes it across all communities. Revenue-sharing has increased steadily in recent years, from two percent under Governor LePage to the current five percent for FY23.
Combined with cautious New Gloucester forecasting, increased revenue-sharing has boosted the bottom line. In FY22 the board budgeted $320,000 of revenue-sharing but actually received more than twice that: $759,500. This year, $550,000 was expected and budgeted. $455,000 has already been received with several months’ more payments to come. The FY24 draft budget anticipates $700,000 in revenue-sharing.
A larger slice of New Gloucester’s non-property tax revenue comes from auto excise taxes: more than $1 million annually in recent years. There, too, actual receipts have outpaced budget estimates in recent years, sometimes significantly. In FY21 and FY22 $300,000 more was received each year than had been budgeted. In the board’s draft budget, $1,250,000 is budgeted for FY24, up $50,000 from the current year.
Inflation, the cost of living, labor market. As requested by the Select Board, Manager Bill Kerbin’s initial budget capped wage increases at three percent, with some exceptions, as a cost-of-living-type adjustment. Given inflation, Budget Committee members questioned whether three percent was sufficient.
Kerbin later returned with a 4.5 percent increase. He described the new, higher figure as “good for morale” and closer to inflation. Board members concurred with the 4.5 percent figure, and it is reflected in their draft budget – again, with exceptions, mainly for Fire Rescue personnel.
Fire Rescue compensation. In discussions, the board grappled with whether Fire Rescue’s compensation is high enough to attract and retain staff in a highly competitive job market. Interim Chief Craig Bouchard told the board and committee that the current climate for Fire Rescue and EMS staffing is “pretty volatile.”
Wage increases “have been exponential,” Bouchard said, with departments trading employees based on pay. He said New Gloucester Fire Rescue has lost three per diem paramedics over the last four months and the department has had to scramble to cover shifts.
In the manager’s budget, Bouchard proposed raising per diem compensation for paramedics from $22.60 to $24 an hour; Advanced EMTs from $18.54 to $21.50, and EMTs from $16.48 to $19.50. The North Yarmouth Chief will be requesting $28, $25, and $21 for those same positions, Bouchard noted. Even with the increases he was requesting, New Gloucester would still be “behind” neighboring communities, Bouchard said.
Some board members later said the requested pay rates were high. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Bouchard subsequently trimmed his request for Advanced EMTS to $21 per hour and EMTs to $19, while keeping the proposed paramedic rate at $24 per hour. The board agreed with the revised rates.
Will that be enough to attract and keep needed staff? Time will tell. In the meantime, a search for EMTs continues at current pay rates.
The Fire Rescue Chief also gets a pay increase in the board’s draft budget, from the current $74,422 to $82,000. The Chief also serves as Emergency Management Assistance Director with a stipend of $3,000, bringing the total to $85,000, exclusive of benefits.
Interim Chief Bouchard told the board and committee that New Gloucester is competing with “every other town in Cumberland County” for a Chief. At one point, a salary figure of $98,000 in Freeport was floated. The board went with the $82,000/$3,000 proposed. The search for a Fire Rescue Chief has been re-opened and an ad is currently posted, with salary indicated as negotiable based on qualifications.
Assistant for Parks & Recreation. “We’re asking for what the department really needs,” Parks and Recreation Director Sarah Rodriguez said in presenting her proposed budget. It includes a new fulltime Assistant position, 36 hours per week at $18 an hour exclusive of benefits.
“We can’t grow any more programs without additional staff,” Rodriguez said. Her comments made clear that she often works six days a week, from administration and supervision, to prepping fields and scattering grass seed. A budget request last year for a Parks & Rec position to be shared with Public Works was rejected by the board.
This time Rodriguez proposed to cover half the Assistant position wages from the Parks & Rec special revenue account and the other half and benefits from the town budget. The department’s special revenue account was approved last year by voters. It keeps Rec program participants’ fees in a dedicated account to cover program expenses; any surplus stays with Parks & Rec to help build the program.
Board members split over funding for the added position. Tammy Donovan noted that the recreation programs are growing and revenues increasing. “There’s a need for it,” she said of the assistant position. Other departments have assistants, she added, “and we pay for them.” Stephen Hathorne wanted the special revenue account to carry the full wage line for the Assistant position, and ideally other Parks & Rec expenses as well.
The board’s draft budget calls for the Assistant position’s $33,700 in wages to come entirely from the special revenue account, but board members expressed interest in hearing what Budget Committee thinks.
The Library. Library Director Jay Campbell introduced the Library budget as “not dramatically different from the current year.” It requested a $2 per hour raise for the Assistant Librarian position, from $18 to $20, to better reflect Emily Martin’s professional education and experience, and a $2,500 increase in the book acquisition budget, to $10,000. Campbell described the books increase “a step toward minimum state standards” for a community of this size.
Also in the mix was an added part-time staff person to bring the Library closer to staffing standards and make it possible to join the MILS network, which would give residents access to 450,000 items instead of the current 19,000.
In public comment and letters to the board and manager, residents expressed strong support for the Assistant Librarian raise, increased book budget and added staff.
Campbell had requested an added part-time position last year but was told by the board to come back this year. This year, however, the position was not included. Manager Bill Kerbin took responsibility for its absence, telling the board that Campbell wanted to request the position but that he, Kerbin, had “squelched” the request to avoid presenting a Library budget with “a big ask.” Instead Kerbin suggested letting the board and Budget Committee decide the question of added staff.
So the added position was raised and discussed. Campbell told the board and committee that the library is currently understaffed relative to peer libraries and communities and that an added person would benefit operations, programming and safety.
Board members split on the matter, with Stephen Hathorne calling the new position “mythical” because it wasn’t formally requested, Dustin Ward in support, and Tammy Donovan willing to consider it if library hours are also increased.
After further discussion, the board again nixed the added position and suggested a detailed request be made next year. They agreed to the $2,500 increase for books but rejected the Assistant’s $2 an hour raise, opting instead for the standard percentage increase. The Budget Committee weighs in next.
Buildings and Grounds, Public Works. Public Works Director Ted Shane, who also oversees Buildings and Grounds and the Transfer Station, requested “an extra set of hands from April to November” for Buildings and Grounds: a part-time employee for 900 hours at $17 per hour, mainly for mowing. With increased activities at the Fairgrounds—it’s used “almost daily,” Shane said—and more at Rowe Station, it’s hard to keep up. The board cut the request to $12,000.
Shane also requested additional seasonal call-in help for Public Works. He noted that he is already short-staffed, down two employees. The added seasonal call-in would total $22,000, representing 20 hours for 26 weeks, primarily for plowing. After considerable confusion about seasonal work and shared positions across B&G and Public Works, the board settled on a reduced $15,000 ‘bank of hours’ for seasonal call-ins.
On Shane’s wish list but not formally requested is a backhoe. The town spends $32,000 each year on a lease, Shane reminded the board, money he would rather put toward a purchase. After his repeated requests for a backhoe died in the capital review process, he stopped asking, he said. But Shane hasn’t truly let go. A backhoe “is very much needed in this town” for maintenance work, he told the board. “Every town around us has a backhoe for that reason. Some have two.”
Shane won’t be getting a backhoe, but under the draft budget he will, for example, get replacement tires for the Public Works loader: four tires at $2,500 each = a quick $10,000.
IT specialist/cable TV manager position. To keep up with technology needs and systems across departments as well as local cable and streaming, the board initially proposed a new IT/manager position at $56,000, exclusive of benefits. On reflection, Manager Bill Kerbin thought the combination might be hard to fill. He recommended sticking with contracted IT services but upping its budget and exploring sharing a cable station manager with a neighboring town. The board agreed.
Projects at the Town Hall Complex. The board’s draft budget includes several lines for repairs and upgrades around the Town Hall complex:
— a request to make the Town Hall’s public bathroom ADA-compliant and tend to other needed repairs was reduced to $10,000, down from an initial ask of $15,000.
— A single-bay garage built in 1928 behind Town Hall to house the town’s first fire engine is in serious disrepair. As a result, it’s used only for low-value storage and to stow trash. Director Ted Shane received estimates to repair the building for $23,800 or replace it for $38,800, but any project of that size must first undergo capital review. For a speedier fix, the board allocated $10,000 for repairs, down from a requested $15,000.
Paving, Ledge, Borings. The board peeled $100,000 from the initial paving request, ending up at $345,000. The hope is to complete the rest of Snow Hill Road and Penney Road; smaller, low-traffic roads like McKenney Drive may have to wait. After extra spending to ‘double up’ paving these last two years, board members thought the reduction was warranted.
In addition, the board reallocated funds from a leftover account to cover ledge removal on Gloucester Hill Road before it’s paved and to fund a series of test borings on a dirt road (specific road to be chosen later). The borings would amount to a study of actual conditions, important to pin down before paving. $32,900 was set aside for ledge work and borings.
Capital projects and reserves. Capital projects and additions to reserve accounts total $755,000 in the draft budget.
Among capital items proposed to be funded:
— A command vehicle for Fire Rescue, at $60,000. The vehicle would be based in New Gloucester rather than travel with an out-of-town Chief.
— $95,000 is allocated for Town Hall Complex paint and stain, bumped up from an initial $75,000 in hopes of covering more buildings. The idea is to start closest to the road with the Town Hall and Meetinghouse and see how far the money will go.
— $25,000 was set aside toward a permanent bathroom facility at the Fairgrounds. Porta-potties there have continued to be inadequate and problematic.
— Public Works and the Transfer Station get $100,000 and $50,000 respectively in capital reserves for equipment.
Other capital requests were trimmed:
— A request for $160,000 for the Cemetery Association’s multiyear cemetery expansion plan was denied, but the board is recommending $50,000 be used for preliminary survey and layout work.
— A request for $125,000 in Transfer Station improvements—safety plan, traffic flow, paving—was reduced to $75,000. The proposed plans aren’t elaborate, Manager Bill Kerbin noted in backing the reduction.
— A request for $250,000 for Fire Rescue’s capital account was reduced by $100,000 to $150,000. Board members cited Fire Rescue’s current ‘healthy balance’ of reserves and no major vehicle purchases scheduled in the next several years.
The board also set aside $100,000 for future Town Hall Complex expansion, up from an initial $50,000 request. The item refers to an apparently ambitious and long-deferred plan—maybe dating from the early 2000s—that not all board members have read (nor has your correspondent). Plan elements mentioned in passing include elevator access to the currently-unused second floor of Town Hall and reconfigured buildings and meeting and office spaces.
Details about the Town Hall Complex improvement and expansion plan are likely to surface if and when the capital request is put before voters – or perhaps sooner, as the Budget Committee considers the Select Board’s draft budget.
Correction: The Select Board and Town Manager Bill Kerbin discussed initial budget and wage increase goals in December 2022, not October – my error. The article has been updated. – Joanne Cole
To see the Select Board’s draft budget, click here. To watch videos of any or all of the budget workshops, click here.
