Council reviews $9.1 million spending plan

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Town councilors were given their first look at the $9.1 million municipal budget for 2012 during a special meeting Monday.
    A public hearing on the budget, in which residents can offer comments, make suggestions and ask for additions or subtractions to the spending plan will be held Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers.
    During the hour-long session, councilors took the opportunity to ask questions about the town’s revenues and expenses. Among the many subjects brought up by the councilors were the tax abatement for the Houlton Band of Maliseets; economic development costs; the rest area/tourist information center; and a request for funds from the group Vital Pathways.
    No official votes were taken during the meeting. Instead, councilors merely gave a consensus on each line item in the budget. Roughly 55 percent of the town’s budget is funded by property taxes. Houlton also supports itself through money received from the state, known as revenue sharing, and through excise taxes, taxes paid to register vehicles.
    Walter Goodrich, chairman of the town’s Board of Budget Review, explained his group spent three nights going over the budget figures with the various town department heads and lauded Town Manager Doug Hazlett for putting together the package.
    “We found the budget extremely well done from Doug,” he said. “There was not a lot that we found to make changes on.”
    The Board of Budget Review made just three adjustments to the budget as it was presented, Goodrich said. An extra $1,000 was added to the “Administration” account for records preservation; $264 was added for the local Red Cross, bringing the total amount to $3,764; and $1,500 was added for Vital Pathways.
    The council later removed the $1,500 for Vital Pathways, stating the group appeared before them a year ago asking for a one-time donation of $1,500 to assist with projects.
    Goodrich said several members of the Board of Budget Review wished to add in the $38,380 that had been waived in taxes for the Houlton Band of Maliseets this year. Hazlett explained that while he did not include that figure in the revenue side of the budget, that did not mean the town was automatically agreeing to forgo the taxes in 2012.
    “When I do a budget, I try to make absolutely certain that revenues and expenses are in balance” he explained. “I want to make sure that I don’t use revenue that might not be there. My choice was to balance the budget without it. If I don’t put that (figure) in the budget, that has no implication on its collectability.”
    Hazlett said if the council did not put the figure in the budget, but then decided not to grant the waiver next summer, the $38,380 would simply go into the fund balance.
    Several councilors expressed dissatisfaction that the figure was not included in the revenues.
    “You are paving the road for it (the waiver) to happen next year,” Councilor Mike Jenkins said. “We should decide at the time they come before us, whether or not the town has the funds available to grant the waiver.”
    Councilors John White and Rob Hannigan agreed with Jenkins and asked that the figure be put back in as a revenue for 2012.
    The $50,000 cost for community and economic development (a decrease of $10,000 from the previous year) was also debated. Councilor Jenkins asked how much of the $50,000 was used for the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation. According to Hazlett, about $24,000 was earmarked for SADC.
    “Do we get our bang for the buck for that ($24,000)?” Jenkins asked.
    “I believe we do,” Hazlett said. “He (SADC Executive Director Jon McLaughlin) is involved in just about every economic development issue (for the town).”
    The issue of the rest area/tourist information center drew the bulk of the discussion. Back in June, councilors voted to move forward with discussions with the state’s Board of Tourism to take over the rest area property located near the Interstate 95 southbound ramp. The council was advised by MDOT in 2009 that it was looking to turn ownership of the property over to the town, or risk the state closing the rest area.
    At that time, Hazlett estimated the cost of maintaining the rest area to be between $6,000 to $8,000 per year. However, that figure has grown dramatically, to $62,000 per year for maintenance and staffing. The town currently has the deed to the property and is responsible for maintaining the facility as long as the Maine Bureau of Tourism remains on site. If the bureau ever closes, the town would then have the option of purchasing the land at fair market value. The property is currently assessed at $763,500.
    “I’m not comfortable after we voted to take over the rest area for $6,000-$8,000, now we are at $62,500 and I believe it may go up even further than that,” Jenkins said.
    Hazlett said the town would try to keep the costs to the $62,500 amount, and added that figure is considerably less than what the state is presently paying to operate the facility.
    “In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t given that ($6,000-$8,000) figure,” Hazlett said. “In January, I will be presenting a plan to you on how we can fund this. I want this to be as reasonable as possible, while meeting the needs of the facility.”
    Jenkins countered even at $60,000, the town over the next three years will have spent $180,000 on maintaining the property. At the end of that three-year period, the state may try to sell the property, of which the town has the first right of refusal.
    “I do not feel we should be doing the state’s job as a rest area,” he said. “I don’t think the taxpayers should be paying that kind of money to finance a rest area. I’d like to have us discuss this again and re-vote (on accepting the property).”
    Council Chairman Paul Cleary asked the town manager to have concrete figures available for the next time council discusses the matter.
    “I want to see the actual numbers for water, sewer, lights, heat, and we can adjust it based on hours there,” he said. “That is a lot of money to spend over a three-year period and then have to come up with money to buy it.”