By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON, Maine — Like most municipalities around the state, Houlton is playing the “wait and see” game in regard to possible reductions in the state revenue sharing program.
A year ago, Houlton Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said reductions in the state revenue sharing program would have a catastrophic impact to the town. Chief among those cuts was a proposal to eliminate the Homestead Exemption for taxpayers. And while those dramatic reductions in state funds did not transpire last year, the town did receive less funding. Municipal officials are now concerned that additional cuts to revenue sharing may be a reality this year.
In 2012, the town received $623,000 in revenue sharing from the state, but in 2013, that amount dropped to $481,175. This year, the town is budgeting just $368,000 in state revenue, but even that figure could come in lower than anticipated.
“Last year, when the state budget was adopted, there was a group created to look at tax expenditures,” Conlogue said. “This study group was tasked at looking to make as much as $40 million in reductions to certain governmental activities. That committee did not come to a unanimous solution.”
Conlogue said that since the group was unable to agree on the reductions they were charged to, those funds were supposed to come from revenue sharing. If this were to happen, the town would lose another $228,000, reducing the amount the town receives to just $140,000. That figure is just 17 percent of what the town should receive.
In order to prevent that from happening, the council authorized its town manager to draft a letter asking the Aroostook County delegates in Augusta to oppose any cuts to the revenue sharing program. The Aroostook Municipal Association drafted a similar letter.
The council also advised Conlogue it would be in the town’s best interests for him to attend the state’s committee hearing on revenue sharing Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 9 a.m. in Augusta.
“If there are further cuts to revenue sharing, we should know by April, which will give us time to come back and make a plan,” Conlogue said. “If we get another whack, then we will have to make some adjustments. It’s all still speculative.”
In his Town Manager’s Report, Conlogue informed the board that the Maine Department of Transportation is eying three possible improvement projects in the town during the next paving cycle. Those projects include re-paving Military Street from Kendall Street to the top of Drake’s Hill; North Street from Union Square to an unspecified point; and the Calais Road to the Houlton-Hodgdon town line.
While not confirmed by MDOT, Conlogue said the simple fact that three major projects such as these were in the pipeline for Houlton was “amazing.”
In other agenda items, the council:
• Agreed to re-activate the Airport Advisory Committee.
• Re-appointed the following individuals to town positions: Lori Weston, community development director; Eugene Conlogue, airport director/emergency management director; Kevin Tingley, code enforcement officer; Milton Cone, ambulance director, fire chief and cemetery superintendent; Marie Carmichael, recreation director; Leigh Stillwell, public works director; and Butch Asselin, police chief.
• Approved liquor license renewals for the Houlton Lodge of Elks and Pizza Hut.
• Agreed to waive the bid process to enter into agreement with Cartographic Associates, Inc. to provide tax map maintenance and GIS Services.
The next regular council meeting is set for Monday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.
