MERRILL, Maine — A group of 45 residents cast ballots at the polls last Tuesday, which Town Manager Candy Nevers described as an “awesome” turnout for the town. Incumbent Thomas Goff garnered 34 votes to be re-elected to the Board of Selectmen for a three-year term. Challenger Robert Furrow received 11 votes.
Tuesday evening, a group of 18 residents gathered for the town meeting.
“It was a very good meeting, good discussion and great feedback from the townspeople regarding how the town is doing, how it is governed and many positive reports regarding the annual report,” Nevers said.
All articles passed as presented.
“Many people expressed concern regarding the school budget for RSU 50,” Nevers said. “The school budget is adopted at the district meeting of RSU 50 and then ratified at each member town by way of a referendum vote. I encouraged everyone to be involved in the school and the town and to become familiar with the process of the school budget – to voice their concerns before the annual district meeting and certainly before it comes to the towns on a referendum.”
Last year Merrill’s appropriations were $169,706. This year, the municipal budget passed at $163,500. Merrill also had other income of $99,772 from excise, state revenue sharing, stumpage, fees and interest income. This year, however, the town only has $92,900 in other income.
“The really big issue is the school and how much funding they are going to receive from the state,” Nevers said. “The big unknown is the school budget – what cuts are they going to see in revenues from the state is a big unknown at this time.”
She added that if the school budget remained the same as last year, the town’s mill rate would remain the same.
If the Homestead Exemption for property owners is eliminated for people under 65 — a proposal in Governor Paul LePage’s budget — each homeowner would receive an increase in their tax bill of $165 provided the mill rate remains the same.
Merrill’s share of RSU 50’s budget is 4.26 percent, so whatever increase is passed on – Merrill property owners will see an increase of the total school bill by 4.26 percent, Nevers said.
As an example, Nevers said that if the school budget featured an increase of $200,000, the town of Merrill would pay an extra $8,250.
“Last year, our school appropriation was $149,706,” she said. “Also, the school is on a different budget year than the town, so this year we would pay half of last year’s budget and half of this year’s budget.”
A one-point increase in Merrill’s mill rate would raise $14,408 in actual tax dollars.
Another burden on the taxpayers in Merrill is the amount of land in tree growth, Nevers said.
“We are mandated to assess the land at the rate the state sets, county by county,” she said. “It is about one third of what undeveloped land is assessed for if not classified as tree growth and our reimbursement from the state is minimal.”
Last year, Merrill’s mill rate was 5.29 points higher because of the loss of revenue from land classified as tree growth.
“These are very challenging times for towns and schools,” Nevers said. “The state has been overspending for years and now has a huge budget deficit. The federal government has overspent and is pushing expenses onto the state and not paying some of their bills to the states. The state is proposing to cut funding in various categories to the towns and schools. Painful as it is, cuts need to be made at both the federal and state level, because we cannot tax our way out of this mess.”
