BIDDEFORD — On Thursday, the city council will consider a proposal to raise the property tax rate by nearly 10 percent, as they discuss the 2013 budget.
This would add $1.52 to the current tax rate, bringing it up to $16.94 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The current proposal is lower than that discussed at a public hearing last week, to raise the tax rate by nearly 13 percent, which would require a tax rate of $17.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The proposal to be discussed Thursday would raise city expenditures approximately 6.5 percent over last year’s budget, or about $3.6 million.
Until now it’s been the budget committee, consisting of the entire city council, that has dissected the budget, which covers the city’s expenditures from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. On Monday, budget committee members met for the last time to discuss ways to minimize city expenditures.
Using the budget as proposed at the public hearing, City Manager John Bubier presented several scenarios that would raise the tax rate by 6 to 8 percent.
The most significant proposal, which didn’t seem to garner much support from committee members, was to remove the solid waste department from the general fund, so it would no longer be a taxpayer expense.
A pay-per-bag system would be instituted that would require residents to pay $1.50 or $3 per trash bag, depending on the size of the bag, in order to dispose of their waste.
The revenue from the sale of the bags would be used to fund the approximate $1 million cost of the solid waste department.
Councilor Richard Rhames said he was uncomfortable with that proposal because commercial interests as well as residents pay into the general fund, so businesses cover some of the expense of solid waste. If the general fund were no longer used to pay for solid waste, only residents would pay the cost.
Councilor Melissa Bednarowski said she was uncomfortable dealing with the issue without knowing what was happening with negotiations between the city and Casella Waste Systems, the company that owns the Maine Energy Recovery Company, the waste-to-energy facility located in the downtown.
Mayor Alan Casavant said he would give the council a briefing on the progress of negotiations on Tuesday.
Another proposed cut would reduce by $210,000 the amount the general fund pays back to the wastewater debt service.
Rhames said he was uncomfortable with that also. The cut would impact sewer users who already pay too much through the sewer user fees, he said.
Councilor David Bourque said he was also opposed to the reduction in the payment to the wastewater debt service.
When preparing for next year’s budget, he said, the city should look for ways to raise revenue. A range of reductions to city staff, the cost of city operations and a decrease in the investment in capital improvements was also discussed.
A majority of councilors said they didn’t want any city staff reductions.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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