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Budgets proposed for Jay departments

7 mins read
Budget committee members and selectpersons meet Monday to set a new proposed budget.

JAY – Selectpersons and budget committee members approved roughly $9,000 in reductions to Town Government and Sewer Department budgets Monday evening, after the April 25 town meeting referendum that resulted in both budgets being voted down.

The $463,765 Town Government budget was voted down with 258 votes cast in favor and 375 in opposition. That budget represented a $40,000 decrease from the current fiscal year. The $530,613 Sewer Department budget, which was proposed a $10,000 decrease, was defeated with 251 votes in favor and 378 votes opposed.

On Monday, Selectpersons, department heads, budget committee members and few residents gathered at the Spruce Mountain Middle School to propose new budgets to appear before voters at the June 13 referendum. Addressing the Sewer Department, budget committee member Michael Schaedler questioned how much of the budget could be adjusted, given the majority of the department’s priorities were set by state agencies and billing commitments.

Superintendent Mark Holt said that the majority of the budget paid for bills associated with the town’s sewer treatment, with waste going to either the North Jay or Livermore Falls facilities. The only variable was manpower, Holt said, with the department employing two full-time positions total. If one position was cut, Holt said, a list of services the department would no longer provide would need to be developed and adhered to. Further cuts could mean additional costs, he noted, as the department was forced to contract out work that had previously been done in house.

“Any further cuts don’t necessarily mean savings,” Holt said. “That’s my honest opinion.” He noted that a Maine Department of Environmental Protection staffing review found that Jay’s department merited a staff of 2.6 employees. “They said we are highly efficient,” Holt said.

The part-time employee envisioned in previous discussions would need a Class 1 tractor trailer license, wastewater treatment experience and be willing to work on a part-time basis without benefits. “You’re just not going to find that kind of employee,” Holt said.

Additionally, Holt said, new projected flow data indicated that the department’s budget would need to be increased by $8,350 to cover the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Facility line, which previously sat at $239,000. A total of 59.6 percent of that facility’s flow comes from Jay, with the towns splitting the cost in accordance with a flow-based funding formula. Holt recommended making up the majority of that increase by cutting benefits by $850, utilities by $1,000 and reducing supplies by $5,000. That would result in an increase of $1,000, or $531,613.

Discussions turned to the department’s Capital Reserve account, which stands currently at $323,608. Those funds were expect to pay for $620,000 worth of equipment over the next few years, Holt said, and some at the meeting cautioned against drawing down those accounts. The Sewer Department budget was one of the few that retained a small portion of its Capital Reserve expenditure – $4,313 – representing a payback from a reserve account withdrawal last year. Town officials discussed cutting that payback to reduce the budget.

A divided, 3 to 2 vote by the board approved a $528,000 budget, marking a $2,163 cut; Chair Terry Bergeron, Selectperson Keith Cornelio and Selectperson Timothy DeMillo were in favor and Selectperson Gary McGrane and Selectperson Judy Diaz were opposed. The budget committee was even more divided: three to three. As the meeting participants had previously discussed that divided votes could have helped contribute to voters rejecting the department’s budget, McGrane successfully moved to reconsider the department budget.

The board then approved a $526,300 budget, pulling out the $4,313 reimbursement to the Capital Reserve. The vote was 4 to 1, with Diaz opposed, while the budget committee vote was 5 to 1 in favor of the new budget.

The new budget has no impact on sewer rates, Holt and others noted, as the $54,000 in increased revenue was already approved as part of the town’s revenue article. The Board of Selectpersons will meet to set how that increase will impact sewer rates on May 22.

Turning to Town Government, town employees and some budget committee members questioned how the office could reduce a position and continue to offer services to residents. Currently, the town of Jay employs 4 full-time employees that fall under the Town Government line; a comparison with nearby towns indicated that the employee-to-population ratio was competitive at one employee per 1,032 people. Livermore Falls employs three full-time in its town office, for example, but serves 3,187 compared to Jay’s 4851. Rumford, which has roughly 1,000 more people, employs nine full-time people in its town office, while Wilton, at 4,116, employs four.

The town office had gone from seven to 4.5 positions in the past couple of years, and 40 employees town-wide down to 24.5 in the proposed budget.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere suggested cutting $4,500 out of the Salaries line. Those funds were earmarked for employees selling back vacation time, but LaFreniere said that the employees had met and determined that no vacation time would be sold this year. That cut and an overall Town Government budget of $459,265 was approved by a vote of 4 selectpersons to 1, with Diaz opposed, and 4 to 2 budget committee members.

Assuming the proposed school and town budgets passed, LaFreniere said, the town would see a $1.4 million decrease in funds that needed to be raised locally. That would make up for the $1.33 million Verso mill settlement payment, although LaFreniere said that the town had yet to see the impact of the mill’s new, reduced value following the machine shutdowns.

The next town meeting vote is expected to be June 13, allowing for residents to simultaneously vote for Town Government, Sewer Department and the RSU 73 school budget. Absentee votes will become available on May 12, LaFreniere said, with the public hearing held sometime between the two dates.

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8 Comments

  1. Selectpersons open your eyes. The town office employs 4.5. So the office manager oversees 3.5 employees.. Ok. Cut one part time clerk position and cut the office managers job saving you thousands of dollars in salary and move that employee back out to the fill in as a clerk. The Town manager can oversee the operation of 3.5 people on a day to day basis. Based on span of control 5-7 people the Town Manager should be able to handle the whole town operations easily. 1 Police Chief, 1 Fire Chief, 1 Sewer Dept. Head, 1 Highway/Transfer station Dept. Head, and 3.5 office employees would have to report to the Town Manager. 7.5 employees. With the efficiency of departments in town now, I know for sure the Manager has trust in them make the decisions they were hired for and have no need to micro manage them will give her enough time to oversee the office employees herself day to day. 2 clerks, 1 Finance, .5 payroll/finance helper.

    It’s easy to see where you could save thousands on an over paid Office Manager for 3.5 employees.

  2. The town manager is included in that 4.5. which muddies the perception of how many people work in the office. That position should probably be a separate line item.

  3. If the Town Manager is included then it’s a no brainer. Not a separate line item, do away with it. Do you see what we pay the “Office” manager? Selectpersons cut where you will have the least amount of impact on services. That salary could be saved and put back in capital accounts to unsure departments have money for emergency situations.

  4. unfortunately it is the selectman who have approved these bloated contracts that cover every town employee from the one hourly sewer department employee, to the office staff, police department, town garage, etc. They are paid generously with unbelievable health insurance benefits. They are guaranteed overtime and the town can do nothing about it because someone approved these contracts. More days off than you can shake a stick at. It’s time to reign in these benefits.

  5. Benefit to Wage ratio for Town government employees is 54%. This is unreasonable and not sustainable. Benefit packages need to be consistent with other employers in Franklin County.

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