Scarborough residents will decide whether to spend $1.2 million for a senior center and amend the town’s charter to increase the Town Council’s single-item bonding authority during the November election, but will not be asked to vote on a local tax cap.
On Wednesday, the council unanimously approved placing the senior center question on the ballot. If approved, the facility will be built at Memorial Park at Oak Hill.
Councilors did caution the seniors that some residents have lingering questions surrounding the issue and they will have to work to get community support behind it.
Both Senior Series and Senior Voices, the town’s two senior organizations that are pursuing the project, have been meeting at Hillcrest Retirement Community and Scarborough Downs, but are worried that the spaces will eventually become unavailable.
They believe the proposed 5,200-square-foot senior center will be large enough and offer seniors a wide variety of events and, when not being used, can be a place for various community groups to meet. The project would add $6 to the tax bill for every $200,000 of a home’s valuation.
Also on Wednesday, the council approved placing a charter amendment on the ballot that would increase its single-item bonding authority from $400,000 to $700,000.
The charter currently specifies the council cannot borrow more than $400,000 on a single item without voter approval.
Many felt the $400,000 figure was too low given today’s prices, and believed the higher amount was justified.
Councilor Sylvia Most said there is not a pressing need to move ahead with the issue without forming a Charter Review Committee. She noted that there is not a single item on the capital improvement list that is more than $395,000.
“We shouldn’t be tinkering with the charter,” she said. “There’s nothing we can’t do with the authority we have today.”
Councilor Shawn Babine initially requested the single-item bonding cap at 0.04 percent of the town’s valuation, which would have equaled some $1 million. But other councilors felt the number was too high. They also said if the number was tied to the town’s land valuation it would become skewed after every revaluation.
There were three other charter amendments that Babine had proposed to be included on the November ballot, but none will be on November’s ballot.
Councilors agreed to kill one amendment that would have forced a referendum on any budgets that increased the tax levy by more than 3.5 percent.
“We got elected to make these decisions. If people were unhappy with how were doing they would run for Town Council, I would think,” said Councilor Patrick O’Reilly.
They also voted against an amendment that would have capped the total amount of town bonding per year to $8 million, which equals 0.25 percent of the town’s total assessed value. Any bond package that would bring the total above that limit would have had to receive voter approval.
The council agreed to further review the amendment to include street and sidewalk bonds under the single-item cap. Currently street and sidewalk bonds are excluded and can be passed by the council no matter how much the project costs.
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