LIMESTONE, Maine – Limestone wants to pay its new town manager $22,000 more per year even though he has no municipal experience.
Under Interim Town Manager Walt Elliot’s proposal, the manager’s annual salary would jump from $58,000 to $80,000, with health insurance costing the town $14,307. The town has decided to cover 100 percent of a single employee’s health insurance costs.
Elliot noted that a contract for newly hired manager Alvin Lam is still being reviewed by the town’s attorney. Lam, a real estate manager, was hired earlier this month despite having no municipal experience.
Lam is the latest person hired to lead the town, which has seen 11 managers come and go in the past seven years, most being temporary fill-ins. Residents have expressed frustration over the lack of consistent leadership, which they say holds the town back economically.
Controversy has stalled the town’s budget process. Last week, residents voted to postpone the town meeting after suspecting some numbers were inaccurate, and demanded officials review the figures.
Voting stalled with the first warrant article, for town administrative costs, after several people noted an incorrect 2022-2023 total, which Elliot later corrected. The incorrect figure – $469,101 – was actually allocated for the now-defunct police department.
The residents’ concerns came amidst Elliot’s projections of at least a 6-mill increase in taxes, pending the town’s audit. The current rate is 28 mills.
But after leaders spent more than three hours Wednesday reviewing budget items, voters will see little satisfaction. Town and school officials will present largely the same budgets at the June 28 town meeting, with large increases for salaries and benefits.
Elliot is proposing a $87,352 increase to $372,327 for administration, so that the new town manager’s salary and full-time employee benefits can increase. The town employs a manager, two full-time clerks and a part-time clerk.
Public Works is projected to increase from $437,867 to $536,200, with the foreman’s salary rising by $1,357, drivers/operators by $6,318, heavy equipment operators by $6,342 and other drivers by $6,082. Health insurance for the three current full-time employees will total $58,225.
The Parks & Recreation would increase from $62,000 to $106,426, largely due to the town’s desire to hire a fulll-time director. No one has applied to be a part-time director, Elliot said.
The total school budget proposed is $4,756,393, an increase from $4,341,088 last year. That would include $518,451 in state funding, which has increased from $490,373.
Special education remains the largest cost center, with $520,054 proposed this year compared to $351,108 last year.
Instructor and ed tech salaries are increasing by $168,946 due to an increase in special education students, especially from families new to town, according to Superintendent William Dobbins. Thirty-three students are currently enrolled in special education.
If passed by voters, regular instruction would increase from $1,700 last year to $1,753. The town had incorrectly printed $1,354,534 as last year’s total.
Regular instruction includes a $70,509 increase for tuition to send high school students to Fort Fairfield or Caribou districts, said School Business Manager Chris Kilcollins. Tuition rates are set by the districts that high school students attend.
Elliot confused residents last week when he said that numerous figures in the budget warrants were incorrect. He included an addendum explaining the correct figures. Those figures are now correct in the official warrants, he said Wednesday.
Those figures include other instruction ($45,710), student and staff support ($248,881), system administration ($125,878), school administration ($185,867), transportation and buses ($300,041), facilities maintenance ($529,202), debt service and other commitments ($853,901) and additional local funds for public education ($629,864).
Under the proposed new budget this year, those categories would increase to $64,143, $287,858, $159,987, $204,502, $341,827, $552,321, $871,350 and $969,052.
Resident Paul Poitras expressed concerns that such large increases for the school and town could burden taxpayers unfairly, especially senior citizens.
Poitras said he would vote against a proposed $1 million bond for a new Public Works garage and $12,000 for a new electronic sign outside the town office.
“This seems more like a want than a need,” Poitras said, about the new sign.
Neither Elliot nor the Select Board have not yet received information on at least eight in-progress solar panel developments. If the solar panels are taxed as property, that could increase the town’s revenue and help fund budget increases, Elliot said.
The annual town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, at the Limestone Community School auditorium.