Tax rate set, Fairgrounds septic work awarded, biometric time clocks nixed at Select Board

| Joanne Cole |

At their August 19 meeting, the board set the FY25 tax rate, awarded the septic contract for the Fairgrounds bathrooms, considered related design work for the bathroom/storage building, and decided not to implement biometric time clocks for Town employees.

Tax rate to increase by 60 cents. The board set the FY25 tax rate at $14.89 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The new rate is an increase of 60 cents, roughly 4 percent, over the current year’s rate of $14.29. 

Under the new $14.89 rate, a New Gloucester home at the elusive $350,000 median value will pay $210 more in taxes next year.

Behind the rates and anticipated revenues are a FY25 municipal budget of more than $6.9 million, New Gloucester’s $6.5 million share of the Gray-New Gloucester school budget and $448,000 for Cumberland County taxes, according to the tax rate worksheet in the meeting agenda packet.

Mike O’Donnell of John E. O’Donnell & Associates, the town’s longtime assessing firm, was on hand to answer board questions at the August 19 meeting. One item of note: homeowners who took advantage of the now-defunct senior property tax stabilization program will see a larger jump in their tax bills than the coming one-year increase, he said.

Enacted in 2022, the stabilization program froze property tax bills at the prior year’s level for those 65 and older who had owned a homestead for 10 years. Less than a year after passing it, the Legislature repealed the law, with the result that it was in effect for only the 2023-24 tax year.   

That tax freeze for seniors has now thawed. As a result, Mike O’Donnell said, seniors’ FY25 property tax bills will reflect both this year’s and last year’s tax rate increases.  

Also ahead, the value of the Homestead Exemption in New Gloucester will again drop as the town’s assessed values fall farther from current market values. As the real estate market goes up, the Homestead allowance goes down, Mike O’Donnell told the board.

Each year, assessors like O’Donnell’s firm must certify to the State a ratio comparing the municipality’s assessed values against the “just value” or fair market value of the town’s taxable property.

This year New Gloucester’s ratio was 90 percent; for the coming year the ratio will drop to 77 percent, a sign of how rapidly home values have shot up – not news to anyone buying or selling in Cumberland County.

With the new certified ratio, a New Gloucester homeowner will receive 77 percent of the $25,000 Homestead Exemption in FY25. That is, $19,250 in assessed value will be exempt from taxation, saving $287 in taxes. The savings would be $372 under the full $25,000 exemption.

O’Donnell offered no predictions on where what he called “the arc of values” might be headed next, but he’ll be keeping an eye out. Under state law, municipalities must maintain at least a 70 percent assessment ratio.

Bathrooms at the Fairgrounds. The board accepted the bid from Hayes Excavation of Gray for excavation and installation of a septic system at the Fairgrounds. Hayes’s offer came in about $2,000 higher than that of apparent low bidder Aceto Earthworks of Sabattus. But Hayes’s proximity and past work carried the day in a staff recommendation and ultimately with the board.

Also related to the Fairgrounds bathrooms, the board took no action on a draft RFP for design documents for the bathrooms/storage building. Parks & Rec is the lead on the project and Director Sarah Rodriguez told the board that the design RFP was being proposed now in order to be able to move forward quickly once conceptual drawings are ready.  Those conceptual drawings—a precursor to detailed drawings for bids and construction—are in the works but progress has been slow, she said. 

There’s urgency because the bathrooms project is slated to use $75,000 in ARPA funds, Rodriguez said. Those funds must be committed/contracted by December 31.

The board pumped the brakes. They wanted an opportunity to weigh in on any preliminary design before approving an RFP for full design work and wanted to consider the budget and other needed steps, like Planning Board review. Rodriguez will return.

Sarah Rodriguez also reported on Parks & Rec finances and its Kids Club before-and-after-school program in particular. Short version: Kids Club and the summer camp program produced net profits of $49,000 and $11,000 respectively. Participants—not taxpayers—cover program expenses through the fees they pay, with surplus helping Parks & Rec sustain and expand its offerings.

On hearing Rodriguez’s update, member Tammy Donovan said, “I’m super impressed.” Other members agreed. The robust financial results for Kids Club came despite expenses being up because more staff were needed to meet the demand. Kids Club saw as many as 64 kids onsite some weeks. “It speaks to a need in the community,” Rodriguez said. Also up: requests for scholarship assistance to help families cover the costs of participating.

Coming soon, according to Rodriguez, support for Middle School students: the new S.O.A.R. Program – Schools Out Afternoon Recreation. The after-school program will include focused time for homework and reading as well as outdoor activities.  Learn more at GNG Rec at this link.

Licenses for Brickyard Hollow and for Norumbega Cidery.  After hearing assurances from Brickyard Hollow’s Brandon Pierce that appropriate State authorities agreed the Town’s application was in order, the board approved a catering license that will allow Brickyard Hollow to sell a 250th commemorative beer at the community celebration on September 7.

Look for Brickyard Hollow trucks and taps at the Fairgrounds; they will be pouring between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.  The license followed an earlier board vote waiving the no-alcohol-on-town-property policy for the special occasion.

The board also renewed Norumbega Cidery’s liquor license. The renewal comes in time for a fall music festival taking place at the Woodman Road cidery on September 7, the same day as the Town’s 250th parade and fair. To laughter, Norumbega Cidery owner Noah Fralich said he’d thought it best not to lead with that fact at the board.    

Biometric time clocks nixed. Under a prior board and manager, biometric time clocks were purchased for all town buildings and employees, including salaried staff, and installed but never activated. They were recently taken down, board member Peter Bragdon said. He wanted them brought back and implemented.

Board members split on the question. “I’m not in favor of this,” said member Colleen Strickler, “particularly for salaried employees.”  She said that in her experience, salaried employees might be required to complete timesheets but aren’t asked to punch a time clock.

Member Stephen Hathorne wanted to uphold the prior board’s decision, which he thought was then and remains justified. “Accountability is the big part of this,” Hathorne said. “I’m not saying that any employee is cheating, but we would have knowledge of when and where and how,” he said. “Right now we don’t.” He added, “I am not a fan of penciled-in timesheets. We might as well not have them.”

Member Tammy Donovan, who like Hathorne and Bragdon served on the prior board that approved the new time clocks, initially expressed support and proposed revisiting the issue if need be.    

“Are we having trouble retaining staff in this town?” Colleen Strickler asked, turning to Manager Bill Kerbin. Kerbin responded by sharing several concerns with the new time clocks, among them their potential “negative impact on employee morale and retention.”

Kerbin also pointed to the system’s ongoing monthly costs, the need for training and cell phones, and privacy concerns around biometric data.

In addition, Kerbin suggested that oversight of personnel is within his authority under the Charter and town policy. Later, Chair Dustin Ward echoed the point, seeing employee accountability as a personnel matter under the manager’s purview, not the board’s.

Kerbin noted that time clocks are already in use at Public Works and the Transfer Station and that there’s also a timekeeping system at the Fire Station. Strickler questioned why a new system is needed if hourly employees are already using time clocks.

Peter Bragdon responded that the biometric element ensures that employees have to check in it themselves. “Anybody can take a timecard and punch a time clock,” he said. “I’m not saying that’s happening, but it’s concerns that were raised at the time [the board approved using biometric time clocks]. It’s efficiency, too.”

Ultimately, Bragdon’s motion to institute biometric time clocks for hourly employees on a three-month trial failed on a 2-3 vote, with Tammy Donovan joining Ward and Strickler in opposition. Asked by Hathorne why she changed her mind, Donovan said, “I want to keep employees. We’re not doing well in that area.”  

The Economic and Community Development Committee charge gets revised. The board recently added “Community” to the Economic Development Committee’s name to better align with the work the board has tasked the committee with. At this meeting the Economic and Community Development Committee’s charge got a parallel update and explicit references to age-friendly community initiatives.

Need a retired Fire Rescue truck? Chief Craig Bouchard told the board that no bids have been received yet for Fire Rescue’s former squad truck, a 1999 with a Peterbilt chassis. It’s up for auction online on Municibid at this link; minimum bid is $15,000. It would turn heads in any New Gloucester driveway.

View video of the August 19, 2024, Select Board meeting at this link. Find contact information for Select Board members and links to meeting agendas, minutes and related documents at this link.