By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — If everything proceeds at schedule, there’s a decent likelihood that the small city of Caribou becomes the second place in Maine to officially join the Let’s Move Campaign — an initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama to solve the problem of obesity within a generation.
Portland was the first place in Maine to join the campaign, but local leaders like Pamela Buck, work based learning coordinator and community liaison for the Loring Job Corps Center; Kathy Mazzuchelli, superintendent of the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department, and Jenny Coon, director of the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce informed members of the Caribou City Council that the city and its many partners are already achieving the Lets Move Campaign goals.
The council approved a motion to issue a Proclamation in support of the Let’s Move Initiative to raise public awareness toward raising a healthier generation of kids and adults during their last meeting on July 18, and the next step the city will take toward becoming the second “Let’s Move” location in the state is to register online.
Moving on with the meeting, the councilors discussed calculations regarding the city’s mil rate and property tax levy limit; while converting a year’s worth of data to billing, assessors noted a differential in the Homestead Exemption (a program that provides a measure of property tax relief for certain individuals that have owned homestead property in Maine for at least 12 months and make the property they occupy on April first their permanent residence).
The difference was $890,000; the increased Homestead Valuation served to increase the calculated amount of overlay from $14,178.15 to $25,739.96 and decreases the amount of commitment exceeded the LD 1 tax levy limit from $20,358.15 to just $8,639.35.
This change does not impact the city’s tax bill, rather it changes the calculation for the overlay itself.
The councilors approved a motion reaffirming the 2011 mil rate of 26.10 (same as it was before the meeting) with a calculated overlay of $25,793.40. They also approved a motion to exceeding the 2011 LD 1 tax levy limit by $8,639.35, due to the reduction in State and Federal revenues as well as the increased mil rate effort required under the Essential Programs and Services formulations.
Caribou City Manager Steve Buck noted that a motion to “exceed” allows the municipality to surpass the limit in that year, but requires that year’s limit to be used as the base for the next year’s limit calculation.
The next meeting of the Caribou City Councilors is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. in the councilors chambers.
