/

Updated: Jay residents discuss serious town budget cuts

6 mins read

Those attending the Jay budget workshop on Tuesday night, which included the select board, budget committee, department heads, and many residents, spoke of the need for cuts in the upcoming budget.

Wednesday, Jan. 18: This story has been updated to include the news that the Jay Select Board decided to schedule another budget workshop for Monday, Jan. 23. There will be a Select Board meeting at 5 p.m. and then the Budget Workshop will begin at 5:30 p.m. It will be held at the Spruce Mountain Middle School Cafeteria.

JAY – There seemed to be general agreement at a town budget workshop attended by many residents held Tuesday night that the next budget needs to see some serious cuts in the wake of Verso mill’s ongoing shut downs with hundreds laid off, but the central question remained as to where the cuts in services should be made.

The initial 2017-18 draft proposes a budget even with last year at $5,270,443 but with an additional $1.3 million as part of an valuation settlement with Verso Corporation will total $6,657,474. The property tax settlement agreement for the years 2013-2015 with the Jay paper mill for property tax over payment came in the spring of 2016 in which the town agreed to pay a reimbursement to Verso a total of $4 million over a three-year period. The first of three payments of $1.3 million was made this fiscal year.

The debt service increase of paying Verso this fiscal year resulted in a mil rate jump from 17.25 to 21.10.

Many attending the budget workshop said they simply can’t afford any more tax increases.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said should the Verso mill shut down entirely, “there would be a whole lot of guess work,” when it comes to predicting the next tax  increase because town officials “don’t know what the value of the mill would be if they shut down,” she said.

She said that assuming a 25 percent loss of property valuation would result if the mill were to shut down completely, incorporating all the other revenues and that nothing else changes statewide, the town could be looking at an increase of 3.3 mils. If that were the case, the town would then see the current 21.1 increase to 24 mils.

“That’s with a whole lot of assuming,” LaFreniere said.

Those attending the workshop, which included the select board, budget committee, department heads, and many residents, spoke of the need for drastic cuts in the budget. Of particular mention was the town’s 28-employee contracts that include a benefits package many thought too generous. The union-negotiated contracts will be up for renewal discussion in June, LaFreniere said. “Talk with your select persons,” she said, who make the contract decisions that come up every three years.

“Can we continue to pay all the benefits given to all the employees,” asked resident Tom White who said he is retired. He noted town employees get 11 or 12 days paid holiday vacations and 11 floating days off. “I don’t think they should get 22 or 23 days (paid) off a year.” He said additionally that paying for employee health insurance is fine but the town paying for the entire employee’s family healthcare insurance is too much.

“It’s an impossibility now with the mill,” he said of those benefits.

John Johnson, the highway department director whose proposed budget was under discussion at the moment, said residents need to decide what services they are willing to pay for. “What is it that we as a town want to look like?” he said.

Residents attending said that the increasing taxes “was crazy” and that they’re “disgusted with it.” Some identified themselves as  retired and living on a fixed income said they can’t afford to stay in their home. Others worried that there will be a mass exodus of homeowners who will simply leave town.

“What are we as a town doing to save ourselves,” White asked. Residents suggested an across-the-board 10 percent cut in each town department. Later, others agreed doing away with the $120,000 per year curbside trash collection service.

“A lot of towns do it for a lot less,” Selectboard member Judy Diaz said.

Selectboard member Keith Cornelio noted the town of Turner has no police department and suggested cutting the department to downsize it, but others disagreed noting the good service the police department provides the town.

“We’re in bad shape but it’s going to get worse,” Selectboard member Tom Goding predicted.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

21 Comments

  1. Back during the strike of 87, town people passed huge salary and benefit packages, Large increases in town services and anything that would make the mill pay. Well now the chickens have come home to roast! It is always harder to take things away than it is to grant them. Taking away curb service is certainly a start. The huge school budget will need to be cut also. Of course that will be done with all involved kicking and screaming.

  2. I could agree with an across-the-board 10 percent cut in each town department. Not fair to cut some departments and not others.

  3. Personally, I think paid health insurance benefits of town’s people family needs to go away. We need to live in the new way of business. That is something in the past.

  4. Paying 100% for a town employee’s health insurance is insane! Seriously!! How about you employees join the rest of the world!? The rest of us have to scrimp and save, and if we’re even lucky enough to HAVE health insurance, most of us pay for at least HALF of it.

    This may not help the budget much, but anything is better than nothing.
    ~K~

  5. The benefit packages do seem to be out of line. I would suggest that a comparable benefit package would be State workers who are required to share in health costs.

    Doing away with curbside service is not a good idea in my opinion as the cost compared to the value to the entire community seems to be high especially for residents who are elderly (who do not have kids in school but pay for education costs).

    Assuming employees pay for family coverage then the savings would cover curbside recycling.

    I am not sure what amount the school budget plays but I was surprised to see the costs for Jay to be higher than surrounding towns ($10,000 vs $4,400 in Wilton) according to a study published in the Bangor Daily News.

    So we can take away trash and disband the police force but at $5000 premium per kid in the school system is that really the answer? Perhaps there are lessons we can learn from other school systems to explore reducing costs in that area without harming our children’s education. If it really costs half as much to send Wilton’s kids to school then I would gladly volunteer to send my 2 children to school there and save $10,000 for the town.

  6. Trust me on this folks, do NOT cut your police department. You will regret it immediately. Let me tell you how it works. You need a cop in Turner. You call the Androscoggin Sheriff. But OOPS, they aren’t on this week, this week it’s the State Police. So, you call the State Police. You may or may not (most likely NOT) get an officer who has time to come to see what the problem is. If it is a non emergency (like a theft) they will stall you until the next time Andro is on. Only Andro will push it back, saying that wasn’t their week. As a business we’ve been robbed a number of times in the past 5 years. We’ve given up on calling anyone, we chalk it up to the cost of doing business in Turner.

  7. It is time to have the employees participate in paying for their health insurances same as the rest of us. Even big corporations are having their workers pay a percentage. It is sad; but needs to be done. Those of us on fixed incomes are paying more and more every year. What can be done to bring good businesses back into the area? It was nice when we had a place to go for each of our needs years ago, now we have to spend a lot of our money out of town because the stores just aren’t here anymore.

  8. We as tax payers in Jay can cut the towns services all by 10% and that will be a great help and a step in the right direction. But the real hope for Jay is for the mill to not shutter.. We need the Congress and Trump to step up to the plate and levy a border tax on foreign paper. Thankfully the second district of Maine came through for Trump and that might get us on the priority list. With a renewed focus on low cost energy from this administration, corporate tax relief , relief from over- regulation . Many economist are predicting a cash positive repatriation of dollars will spawn huge venture capital investments in most industrial sectors. I still hold out hope the mill holds on now that the tide has reversed in Washington and in Augusta . Lets hope that we keep the grown ups in charge for a while. VIVA LePage and Trump !!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. It’s really pretty simple.
    The Jay municipal budget is about 25% higher than surrounding towns. Every municipal worker is paid higher than any private or public employee within 50 miles. Their health insurance costs paid by the town is about three times what any surrounding town pays. The individual or their family does not pay a dime. They are given 13 paid holidays, 13 floating holidays of their choice, and vacation time. Where can you get that besides the town of Jay.
    Its not going to be easy, but the town can reign it in. We must.

  10. Would the town of jay please post all of the current employee contracts on line on the town website. It is all public information. Once we are able to read the specifics, we will be able to offer the town selectpersons suggestions on how to reign in this budget.
    Thank you

  11. Why don’t you combine Wilton, Jay and Livermore Falls into one big town, share a common administration, one fire chief, one police chief etc,. Pay as you throw trash, and make sure your benefits are in line with the rest of the state.

  12. Timid right too many bennifits for town employees and I agree the direct employee should get cheap to free insurance but not the whole family ,there should be a family rate not and not free insurance to those who don’t work for the town ,, towns people get double wacked if insurance rates go up we have to pay for em at our own employment place plus get taxed on the increase to the town for their employees , it’s a double whammy,, and yes do we really need all the police men , there aren’t even any bars around any more other than one ope two nights a week

  13. I work for local RSU and have to pay almost $400 a month for insurance and thats up from the $40 a month when I started paying 14 years ago. I dont complain because it is one of the best policies available. My taxes have gone from $680 a year to nearly $1500 a year, which isnt bad compared to some. I believe part of the budget solution is to start by making town employees responsible for a fare part of the premiums that, WE, the tax payers provide. The good years of the paper mills providing a tax base are gone. Its time to call for concessions as IP did in 1987.

  14. I tried to ignore the savior type comments, but they just make me sick. Jay will get past this trouble working together and making better choices. Trump is not our Savior. He will be president even though three million more people voted for a different candidate. Sick as it is it is true.

  15. I have sat for many years now and watched selectmen make bad decisions and the towns people that vote and back then up. It is rediculous to see how much the mill has dictated the workings of a municipal gocernement. All of a sudden, cut this, cut that. All the while, cutting in all the wrong few places. Taking a cruiser away from the police because that one extra was too many. Hearing that officers are at the station and can’t respond to a serious incident because there are no patrol cars. While the highway department has an overabundance of heavy duty equipment and some that would probably be seen as unessential especially when neighboring bigger towns work with less manpower and equipment. In a town where the town office has probably one too many employees that could easily be turned into seasonal positions or by combining workloads. That town has a minimalist police force with great officers and a good amount of experience combined with longevity. Officers that take calls seriously and treat people like people. Of course you will read the bad comments about them, but look at the source. The Town of Jay needs to prioritize. Understanding that budgets, when done right, can benefit all with minimal impact. A level of service is determined by the quality of employees. You want to lose quality of road conditions? Response time to an assault or active incident at the schools where your kids go? There is a lot more points that could be made but is safety something you want to mess with. Open your eyes to common sense Jay.

  16. Actually the Town pays 80% for their employees family coverage. This is municipal side.

    What does the school pay for their employees insurance?

    What is the % of the school vs municipal budget? I bet you could layoff the municipal side and not even come close to saving.

    Have you looked at contracting out services? PW? Police?

  17. I’m still wating for all of the town contracts to be posted on the town website. Why is this taking so long. What are we hiding??
    It’s time to cut, but if we can’t see the pay and benefits of town employees, how can we cut.
    Thank you.

  18. @Sue Smith

    Have you contacted the town office? I don’t think they are reading this website and acting on the demands of the comment section. If you call and ask for them, and ask for them to be posted online I would assume you would get better results. But I’m just assuming, I don’t actually know if they would move any faster.

    @what is

    The school pays anywhere from 85 to 75% of the insurance coverage depending the contract. I’ve heard that they are trying to get to 80% single coverage across the board. Less (on the district) for family insurance.

    The salaries of the employee’s there is a direct result of Jay paying their teachers through the roof salaries for so long. As a teacher you would make almost 10k LESS teaching in Mt. Blue! And we consolidated the laws that were written said the school unit needed to offer the larger salary and the larger benefit package of the schools that consolidated together.

    We also pay more of the above essential programs and services bill because the mill picked up the slack for so long. It’s got to stop somewhere, but it can’t be all at once.

  19. How much of the overall budget (school/municipal/county) covered by property tax?

    School offset by state revenues
    Municipal offset by revenue sharing/excise tax

    So what is the property tax levy for each? You might have no choice but to cut programs that are not covered by property taxes.

    Agreed no 100% coverage for health insurance for employee or employee/family plan those days are over

    Can you privatize your police? public works? computer terminals to do rapid renewal at the town office with a printer (wont need additional office staff)

    School- consolidate with surrounding districts? Share Superintendent?

    Uncomfortable questions for an uncomfortable time in the town

    Wish you the best

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.