After adding $319,000 in expenses to the town’s total budget, the Windham Town Council voted unanimously to approve a town budget of $13.94 million on Tuesday night for upcoming fiscal year 2006-2007.
This brings the budget total just under state restrictions on how much a town can raise from property taxes, as dictated by the LD-1 tax cap.
In constructing a new budget for the coming fiscal year, town officials tackle the budget with a “same as before” approach, which Town Manager Anthony Plante says reflects “what it would take to do last year, what we did this year.”
Changes to town business for the coming fiscal year (new employees, services, projects) are then handled by the Windham Town Council before approving the budget and sending it out to the voters at Town Meeting to be held June 17.
As has become common practice in Windham since LD-1 went into effect, town councilors spent Tuesday night mulling over the $325,000 cushion between the proposed town budget and what the state allows the town to spend.
Councilors advocated heavily for public safety, first approving $60,000 in negotiated police contracts with the Maine Association of Police representing the Windham Police Department.
“We want to treat people fairly, but we don’t want to feed a bidding war between communities,” Plante said who helped reach an agreement with the police union.
Another $30,000 was added to the budget for “reconfiguration of space” at the Public Safety building. Police Chief Rick Lewsen and Fire Chief Charlie Hammond have long complained that the Public Safety Building on Gray Road is becoming too cramped and this money will be used to reconfigure and make best use of the space there.
The council also approved another officer for the Windham police force. This 27th member of the Windham police force will come at a cost of $45,000 a year.
Public Works also gained a new employee at $40,000 to keep up with demand for road service. Strained resources became a public safety concern last February when a late-winter storm forced many drivers off the road and careening into other vehicles.
“We’re asking Public Works to do much more than their share with the number of employees they have,” said Councilor Carol Waig, who voted for the new employee.
Another $9,000 went to promote a mechanic, currently shared by Windham and Gorham Fire/Rescue, to take on part-time duty as an emergency management coordinator for the town.
The Windham library will receive more part-time help at a cost of $24,000 while $8,000 will increase the hours of a “senior programmer” for Parks and Recreation department.
“She plans trips for the seniors and then drives them for errands during the week,” said Brian Ross, Parks and Rec director, of the part-time employee.
$24,000 will bump the Deputy Town Clerk’s hours to 32 a week. This substantial increase is partially due to full-time eligibility for benefits.
$5,000 in extra help went to the Windham Food Pantry where Windham residents can pick up groceries if they are in need. While use of the pantry has increased, donations have dropped in recent months.
With only four members voting and two recusing themselves, Council Chairman Bob Muir denied the Windham Historical Society a contribution of $5,000 several times, killing a vote that needed all four remaining councilors’ approval. Muir finally conceded to contributing a lesser sum of $2,000 after repeated proposals for aid to the Historical Society by Councilor Michael Shaughnessy.
A proposed $12,000 in compensation for Windham’s Planning Board got chipped down to $8,000 after Councilor David Tobin noted Windham would be one of the only a few towns in Maine who pay the all-volunteer board a stipend.
“Certainly, the Planning Board does deserve compensation,” said Councilor John MacKinnon who voted against the stipends. “But hopefully, there’s also some other kind of reward.”
$5,000 will go to plot out new graves on land abutting the Smith Cemetery. The town bought 23 acres of land next the cemetery on Gray Road last spring.
$8,000 will upgrade the Windham’s public access technology to a new digital format to make it easier to archive the public meetings and events taped and broadcast by the station.
Following with the renovations on the Windham Town Offices annex, the Town Council approved another $200,000 out of town savings to renovate sections of the main building of Windham Town Offices. This renovation money will not affect the budget or increase taxpayers’ share of town expenses.
After wrapping up the town budget, the council approved a $28.22 million school district budget for fiscal year 2006-2007.
Though this is a rise of six percent more than last fiscal year, it will not increase the local taxpayers’ share of education costs due a sizable state subsidy received this year by the school.
Councilors also approved $300,000 to be put into a Capital Reserve Plan for the school district. This money comes from a million dollar surplus discovered last summer by the district. An additional $300,000 of this surplus was also applied to reduce local taxpayers’ share of education costs.
With both the school and town budgets reviewed by the council, it is now up to voters to decide at Windham’s Annual Town Meeting whether to approve the proposed budgets. The Annual Town Meeting will be held on June 17 at 10 a.m. in the Windham High School auditorium.
And as Councilor Elizabeth Wisecup said on Tuesday, “It’s not final until people come out to vote on it.”
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