Town approves $9.4 million municipal budget

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The town has approved a $9,478,301 municipal budget for 2013, which may prevent the need to raise taxes after all.
    After earlier indications that a tax increase of 1.25 mils might be imminent, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue presented several amendments to the spending plan Thursday evening in the hopes of keeping the mil rate at the current level of 19.95.
    “The council adopted all of the amendments I recommended, including the final expense item that altered the TIF line,” Conlogue said. “This final adjustment dropped the budget by about $17,000. When compared to the budget I originally proposed on Nov. 13, this adopted budget essentially has eliminated the projected tax increase of 1.25 mils as estimated and actually would keep the mil rate at 19.95 (the 2012 figure), depending on whether the school can hold the line on their budget. I think the ability to come down to the potential 19.95 mil rate is a major accomplishment for this budget.”
    Municipal spending, at $6,955,271, is up $117,497 (1.7 percent) from 2012. A large portion of that increase is due to a 2 percent raise in salaries for town employees.
    The town is allocating $2,215,030 for its share of the SAD 29 budget. That figure is an increase of $164,191 over last year. Because the town and school operate on different fiscal cycles, the exact amount the town will be required to pay for SAD 29 will not be known until sometime in June or July when their budget is typically adopted.
    About 45 people packed into the town council chambers for the public hearing. It was a far cry from last year’s budget session, which was attended by just one person.
    “I am always pleased to see good turnouts at council meetings,” Conlogue said. “There were some potentially difficult issues in the proposed 2013 budget and these issues helped increase the number of attendees.”
    Councilor John White attempted to make several cuts to the 2013 budget, but his attempts were not met with the support of his fellow councilors. White first attempted to reduce the “administration” account by $24,000, which is the amount the town provides for the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation (SADC). The town pays about $2,000 per month to SADC, which is used primarily for its one employee, Jon McLaughlin.
    McLaughlin gave a brief overview on SADC and several supporters for the group spoke on its behalf, urging the council to continue its support for the economic development agency. Several cited now was not the time to be cutting back on economic development, given the poor economy.
    Some councilors agreed.
    “It would be terribly short-sighted of us to cut funding for SADC,” said councilor Sue Tortello. “Over the last five years, they have done an incredible amount of work.”
    “Everyone when they ran for council claimed they supported economic development,” added councilor John Fitzpatrick. “We need economic development and we don’t have any real professional, so to speak, in the town organization. Funding it is a must.”
    White said his reason for suggesting the cut was not that he was against economic development, adding the town already funds an economic and community development director’s position and also gives money to the Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Maine Development Commission.
    “I just haven’t seen where SADC has brought in a lot of economic development,” White said.
    “All of these groups are pieces of the economic development pie,” said chairman Paul Cleary.
    “That’s a big pie,” said councilor Phil Cloney.
    White’s motion to amend the line item failed 1-5 and the administration account was then funded at its original amount by a vote of 5-1, with White opposed.
    The rest area was once again one of the more hotly contested lines in the town budget. And for the second straight year, an attempt to eliminate funding for the rest area failed to garner support with the council.
    Lori Weston, the town’s economic and community development director, said the rest area plays an integral role in the community.
    “It (rest area) is the place when you are entering the U.S. from Canada,” Weston said. “In fact, 700,000 people did that in 2012. Add on to that, 25,000 people visited the tourist information center last year. If you stop by the rest area at any time of day, chances are you will see somebody there.”
    To help raise funds for the rest area, Weston said the town, in conjunction with SADC, sent a letter to local businesses asking for their financial support in the form of a sponsorship for the facility. (See accompanying story.)
    Others also extolled the virtues of keeping the rest area open, stating they feared the state would “shutter up” the building if the town did not continue funding its maintenance.
    At a cost of $52,000 to maintain, councilor White stated he wanted to see that amount cut in half, giving the town six months to find alternative funding sources for the facility. He also said he did not think the state would simply close the building and leave it as an eyesore, like what transpired to a rest area on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield.
    “Last year, I was definitely not in favor of this (rest area),” White said. “I am still not completely in favor of it. If we don’t fund it, it won’t be a boarded up rest area. It’s a prime piece of real estate and I’m pretty sure it will be sold.”
    “It’s no question it is costly for the taxpayers,” agreed councilor Dan Peabody.
    “The rest area not only benefits us, it benefits the entire tourism industry,” Tortello added. “We are a gateway community. We need to capitalize on that and be smart about ways to keep it open. I would not want to see it boarded up, and I really don’t want to see it be used for something else. I don’t want us to be ‘Anytown, USA’ I wouldn’t want an Appleby’s there or some other kind of restaurant or business that can be found someplace else.”
    The rest area includes a Maine Department of Tourism bureau that includes tourist information for areas throughout the state, not just Aroostook County. Last year, when the state declared it was considering closing the facility, former town manager Doug Hazlett agreed to have the town take over maintenance of the facility for the Tourism Bureau.
    White’s motion to cut the funding failed 1-5.
    Included in the town’s revenue is $40,000, which is the amount that the Houlton Band of Maliseets had requested to be waived this year. The council has not officially acted on the 2012 request for a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) request from the Maliseets, but is expected to do so at its next meeting on Jan. 14. If that request were granted, the town would need to find a way to replace that lost revenue from other areas.
    In a report to councilors dated Jan. 2, Conlogue outlined his amendment plan for the budget. That plan includes taking out a loan of up to $250,000 to “replace certain equipment or to fund several projects” in 2013. Among those projects is spending $85,000 to repave the Gentle Memorial Building parking lot and resurface the tennis courts. Also, the loan includes spending $28,931 for a police cruiser. The cruiser was initially included in the regular 2013 budget, but by moving it into the loan package, the town would be able to avoid having to come up with the total amount in one lump sum.
    Cleary said Friday that the council would be reviewing the loan proposal at its next regular meeting, but said the idea was “delaying the inevitable” when it comes to costing the town money.