West Paris facing reduced revenue, smaller budget

WEST PARIS — Local towns will have difficult decisions to make when drafting annual budgets this year.  However, larger towns, which begin the fiscal year on July 1, should have at least some inkling how to react to changes scheduled for enaction this spring by the state legislature.

But for smaller towns across the Oxford Hills — at least the ones that cling to a traditional  town meeting date in March— setting this year's spending plan is purely a guessing game.

The state legislature has been in session only a few weeks now, and questions linger over exactly how it will administer Governor John Baldacci's $146 million curtailment order for the current state budget, or how it will deal with an expected $830 million shortfall in the next biennial cycle.

Still, time and taxation wait on no man, and in West Paris, on January 22, the five-member budget committee weighed in on the budget prepared by Town Manager John White.

West Paris has a fiscal year that matches the calendar year, starting January 1, but selectmen are allowed to run the town using surplus funds until March, when voters set the annual budget.

To hedge his bets, White has assumed a 10 percent drop in state revenue sharing this year, plus a 5 percent weakening in vehicle excise taxes.  The result is a $1.1 million municipal budget that is actually off $29,632 ( -2.6 percent) from White's 2008 spending plan.

Asked to describe his proposal, White made light of the difficult decisions he was forced to make, joking, "at least when I read about it in the paper, I won't cringe."

Neither the budget committee nor selectmen seemed to find anything cringe-worthy in White's proposal.  Budgeters tore though all spending lines in the $1,100,591 town budget in less than 20 minutes, making few comments and requesting only one change.

Adding $17 to the town's annual donation to Senior's Plus, said budget committee chairman  Dale Piirainen, was worth making the agency "feel all warm and fuzzy that they got what they requested."

Few social service organizations get what they ask for in West Paris.  Fourteen agencies, including Community Concepts, Western Maine Transportation and Tri-County Mental Health, have asked West Paris citizens for a combined $15,625 in funding this year.  Of that, White is recommending they approve $8,035.

However, that figure does not reflect current economic woes felt elsewhere in White's budget.  West Paris voters decided several years ago to freeze social service spending to the amounts and agencies it approved that year.

The lone exception is Western Maine Transportation, which last year fell off the approved agency list when it failed to submit its funding request before deadline.  This year, it will be allowed back on the dole, albeit for the usual $1,102 and not the $1,500 it asked for.

The $17 added to SeniorsPlus upped the town's donation to an even $1,300.  Immediately after the budget committee meeting broke up, selectmen, having already agreed to White's budget as submitted, amended their recommendation to reflect the $17 change.  Doing so, they said, was just so much easier than having to explain at town meeting why the selectmen and the budget committee appeared to disagree on this on warrant article.

Tough times

In recent interviews, several town managers in the Oxford Hills have said the anticipated drop in state revenue sharing will send them dialing for dollars in other directions.  Even in towns that plan to "flat-fund," the shift may well result in higher property taxes.

However, West Paris taxpayers should escape that fate, thanks, in part, to the conservative way in which White crafted his 2008 budget.

Although White predicts a drop in virtually all revenue lines, from actual 2008 receipts of  $525,863 down to $454,176 in 2009, that lowered expectation is only off $8,824 from the $463,200 he counted on last year to offset local spending.  If White has guessed right — even if revenue is down three times what he's expecting — the impact of state cuts will be more than covered by the $29,6532 dip this year in local spending.

And, if revenue does not fall as much as expected, the balance is money in the bank, or at least in the town's undesignated surplus.

Still, even if this year's budget in West Paris does not look to be the disaster some Maine towns might expect, it does contain some telling downward trends.

For one, the dip in town revenue from sources other than property taxes — including state revenue sharing, excise taxes, interest on deposits and agent fees — did not begin with the current recession.  Going back to 2006, revenue from actual receipts in West Paris is off 4.4 percent, from $549,944 to $525,863.  Meanwhile, the municipal budget is up 10.1 percent during that same timeframe, from $1,076.337 in 2006 to last year's actual spending of $1,185,357. 

Add in hikes in school and county spending, and the disparity between dollars coming in and dollars going out becomes even greater.

At the same time, West Paris is experiencing a spike in requests for general assistance — the emergency funds doled out to the needy and indigent.

Voters appropriated $18,000 for general assistance last year, but spent $39,744 — an increase of 121 percent. 

By law, the town must meet the need by drawing the extra funds from its undesignated surplus, also known as the general fund.

Although the state reimburses half of all general assistance spending, White is taking no chances.  This year, he'll ask voters to set aside $35,000 for that expense.

2009 budget highlights

Most of the big dollar changes in White's budget proposal are found in the highway department, where he's added $50,500 to snow removal and $16,300 to general operations, bringing those lines to $135,500 and $61,300, respectively.  He's also added $25,000 to tar roads, for an even $50,000.

On the negative side of the ledger, White has cut in half the town's annual contribution to its highway capital reserve, slashing it to $75,000.  He's also knocked one-third from the equipment reserve deposit, asking voters for just $50,000 this year.

White also has cut the $15,000 donation the town made last year to the library's expansion project.  The operating request from library directors is down $42 to $23,178. 

However, this year's budget does include $1, each, for library construction, comprehensive planning and perambulation — the somewhat archaic practice of walking town lines to verify borders.  By appropriating at least $1 to existing accounts for all three projects, selectmen will be able to accept grants received during the coming fiscal year for those purposes, without having to call a special town meeting to first obtain voter approval.

White also carved $7,935 from transfer station operations, reducing his request to $106,290.  A $3,000 cut in general expenses at the town office should cover a $2,304 (2.5 percent) increase in salaries and wages there, while a $10,9000 reduction will leave Fire Chief Norm St. Pierre with just $6,600 to spend on new equipment in 2009.  However, firefighters will see an extra $1,500 in wages, now set at $35,000 for the year.

The one new item in this year's budget is $6,000 to install a four dry hydrants in spots to include the boat landing on Moose Pond and the Tuelltown Road crossing of Bog Brook.  The hydrants will help firefighters draw water in rural locations, outside West Paris' existing hydrant system, hopefully subtracting enough from drive time in those locations to make for a speedier response. 

St. Pierre said Friday that he hopes to obtain a state grant that will reimburse the town for half of the $6,000 cost.

Next on the docket

West Paris selectmen have scheduled a special meeting for Monday, February 2, at the town office, to sign the warrant for this year's annual town meeting.  At start-time for that meeting was still pending at press time, although White said he is "shooting for" 3 p.m., but the time, dependent on selectman availibility, was "not set in stone, yet."

The 51st annual West Paris town meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday,  March 7, at the Agnes Gray Elementary School. 

Town reports will go in the mail to registered voters at lease on week before the meeting.  All others may pick up a copy at the town office at that time.