WATERVILLE — The city’s finance committee recommends the City Council approve a $39.1 million municipal and school budget for 2016-17, which represents a decrease in the tax rate of 18 cents per $1,000 worth of property valuation.
The proposed budget actually represents about a 1 percent increase in spending over the current $38.7 million budget, but because revenues are higher than last year, the impact would be smaller, City Manager Michael Roy said Tuesday.
If the $39.1 million budget is approved, the tax rate of $27.40 per $1,000 would be reduced to $27.22.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Nick Isgro said he will veto any budget that does not contain a tax cut.
“I think the finance committee did a very good job being practical with the city’s financial situation,” Isgro said. “It doesn’t mean councilors have to accept everything we proposed today — they’d have to find other sources of revenues or cuts.”
Councilors also heard a plea from police Chief Joseph Massey to fill the deputy chief position being vacated by Charles Rumsey next week, and another from Waterville Main Street to not cut funding to the downtown promotional organization.
Isgro said Wednesday that while the finance committee originally had questioned the need for a deputy chief, they also heard a compelling argument for keeping the position and there are no plans to eliminate it.
“Anytime a position opens, there’s always discussion of, ‘Is that a position we need to fill or can we go without it?'” Isgro said. “I felt pretty good after talking to the chief that it’s a position we need to keep, and I think everybody felt that way.”
The proposed municipal budget is $17.9 million; the municipal budget approved for 2015-16 was $17.5 million. The proposed school budget is $21.1 million; the school budget approved for 2015-16 was also $21.1 million.
City councilors met Tuesday night with the Waterville Board of Education to continue budget discussions. They said the budget numbers could change between now and the time councilors vote on it next month.
On Tuesday, School Superintendent Eric Haley cited a long list of changes and cuts from an earlier school budget, reflecting a decrease in that budget of $482,948. Some of those cuts include a Waterville Senior High School science teacher, a proposed teacher at Albert S. Hall School and a proposed high school resource room teacher, each in the amount of $54,407; a proposed maintenance position for $63,781; a guidance position at George J. Mitchell School, $35,307; reducing a high school guidance position to part-time, $33,721; and high school secretary, $38.845.
The city’s finance committee at a Monday meeting agreed to recommend the tax decrease to the council. Voting members of the finance committee are Isgro, Council Chairman John O-Donnell, D-Ward 5, and Councilors Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4, and Steve Soule, D-Ward 1; non-voting members are Roy, city Finance Director Chuck Calkins, and city Assessor Paul Castonguay.
The committee recommended $385,460 in cuts to a proposed municipal budget and presented those cuts to councilors at Tuesday’s meeting. They include an additional $100,000 reduction in school spending; eliminating a proposed code enforcement position for $65,080, which includes salaries and benefits; $40,000 from Waterville Main Street; $18,000 from Kennebec Valley Council of Governments; $52,900 from public works; $50,000 in the capital works paving budget; $36,000 from fire department call firefighter wages and $16,000 in non-wages; $10,325 from parks and recreation; $6,000, police; $5,000 from contingencies; and $1,765 in other costs.
Councilors must vote twice on the budget to finalize it. Roy said councilors on June 7 could take a first vote on the proposed budget and a final vote June 21, or take the first vote June 21 and the final vote after that.
Roy also told the council Tuesday that Castonguay expects to be able to say by June 14 what the city’s ongoing revaluation project will mean in terms of the tax rate number. Isgro had said the revaluation would increase some people’s taxes.
DEPUTY CHIEF POSITION
Massey told councilors Tuesday that filling the deputy chief position being vacated by Rumsey next week is crucial to running the department and is one of only two non-union positions. There are 42 full-time employees represented by two unions in the Police Department.
The finance committee on Monday had discussed what would happen if the position is not filled after Rumsey leaves next week. The position pays $92,000, including salaries and benefits. Rumsey has been named chief of the Cumberland department, in southern Maine.
“If you eliminate the deputy chief position, operating efficiency is definitely going to suffer because I’m going to be the only administrative person in the whole department,” Massey said.
A deputy chief’s duties cannot be delegated to sergeants, because their responsibilities are spelled out in their union contracts, he said. A deputy chief is responsible for internal affairs, including discipline and hiring, applying for grants, supervising day-to-day operations in four divisions and interacting with the public, he said.
“To try to manage that department by myself would be a huge challenge,” Massey said.
If an employee investigation is needed, the deputy police chief conducts it and forwards results to the chief, he said. Massey cited a case in southern Maine where a police chief did not have a second in command and the chief conducted an employee investigation and imposed discipline. The officer took the case to court, and the court ruled that the same person conducting an investigation cannot also impose discipline, he said.
“There are no other police departments in the state of similar size that do not have a second in command,” he said.
WATERVILLE MAIN STREET
Several members of the Waterville Main Street Board of Directors, including President Charlie Giguere and Vice President Buffy Higgins, asked the council Tuesday not to cut funding to the organization. They said if the city cuts $40,000, Colby College will cut its $30,000 contribution.
Higgins said Waterville Main Street is more than just a downtown association; it serves as a catalyst for downtown investment. It started a downtown forgivable loan program for businesses, worked on the Head of Falls gateway plaza, enhanced sidewalks, bought bike racks, trash cans and benches, and introduced the Waterville community branding, she said.
It also created a historical walking tour and a flower box program, contributed signs for The Concourse and organizes Kringleville, the Parade of Lights, the farmers market, Harvest Fest and Maine Open Juried Art Show, she said.
Giguere said if Waterville Main Street dissolves, a lot of programs would disappear.
“There is no Kringleville, there is no Parade of Lights, there is no Maine Open Juried Art Show, there is no farmers market,” he said. “I think that’s a terrible loss for Main Street.”
Businessman Bill Mitchell implored the council to fund Waterville Main Street, saying that he believes the city is pro-business. Mitchell said to cut funding to a downtown business association at a critical time when the city and Colby have plans to reinvigorate downtown would send the wrong message.
“I hope you can find a way to keep this in the budget,” Mitchell said.
Staff writer Rachel Ohm contributed reporting.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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