WATERVILLE — The City Council on Tuesday will consider taking a first vote to approve a proposed $38 million municipal and school budget for 2016-17.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at The Center downtown.
The proposed budget represents a $543,000 increase over the current budget, but revenues are up $665,000 so the actual amount needed for taxation is down $122,000, according to the city’s finance director, Chuck Calkins.
“Expenses are up, but revenues are up more than expenses,” he said.
The bulk of the proposed budget increase is $348,000 for a bond payment from a bond the city took out last year for roads, equipment, the City Hall roof replacement and other items. The rest of the increase includes standard wage increases and money for police retirement, as the city used to have a credit for retirement but the credit ran out.
He said that revenues include $300,000 for the sale of The Concourse lot to Colby College, $214,000 in vehicle excise taxes, $191,500 in homestead reimbursement, $131,685 in drug forfeiture money and $59,000 more in TIF funds offset by $304,000 less in use of fund balance.
The tax rate of $27.80 is expected to decrease by 20 cents if the proposed budget is approved, so it would be $27.60 per $1,000 worth of valuation. But because of the city’s ongoing revaluation, some people’s tax bills are expected to increase, some will decrease and some will stay the same. Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the valuation by the tax rate, according to Calkins.
City Assessor Paul Castonguay said Monday that tax bills usually are sent out the last week of August and first week of September and while the revaluation process is nearly complete, tax bills can not be calculated until the council takes a final vote on the proposed budget.
“Until I know what the budget is exactly, I can’t finalize the mill rate,” Castonguay said.
The proposed budget includes only $20,000 of the $40,000 Waterville Main Street initially requested in annual funding. Excluded from the budget is $65,080 for a new code enforcement position and $18,000 for Kennebec Valley Council of Governments.
Councilors Tuesday may amend the proposed budget by asking for additions or reductions to the proposal.
The council must take two votes to approve the budget and is expected to take the second and final vote Tuesday, July 5.
Calkins said that while this is a tough budget year, he thinks next year is going to be just as difficult if not more so.
The city is likely a couple of years away from benefiting from downtown revitalization and investment efforts, the Trafton Road interchange and Seton housing projects and other initiatives, according to Calkins.
“So, if this was a tough year and next year will be a tough year, the year after that should get easier,” he said.
Calkins estimated that after the budget is finalized, the city’s surplus will be $4.5 million, which is 12 percent of the 2015-16 budget. The city’s policy is that the surplus be at 12 percent or higher.
In other matters Tuesday, the council will consider rezoning 30 Chase Ave. from Institutional to a new zone, Suburban Mixed Use District, to allow for apartments, warehouse storage and offices to be built in the former Seton Hospital building. The new district combines the uses permitted in the Downtown Industrial District with the building setback requirements of the Institutional District, but exempts buildings existing as of June 2016 from those new building setback requirements. Two votes are needed to approve the zone change and the council may take only one vote Tuesday.
Councilors also will consider voting to award a $125,000 contract to Roof Systems of Maine to replace the City Hall roof. Roof Systems presented the lowest of three bids for the project. Money for the replacement will come from a bond taken out last year.
Councilors also will consider approving spending $198,000 for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Kennedy Memorial Drive and Airport Road, a spot city officials have said is hazardous to access and exit. Money for that project also will come from the 2015 bond.
In other requests, the council will consider taking $99,000 from the city’s Hathaway tax increment financing account to improve parking areas adjacent to the Hathaway Creative Center on Water Street; awarding a $19,512 contract to Gilman Electrical Supply, of Newport, to supply parts and materials to complete a lighting upgrade on The Concourse; accepting a Federal Aviation Administration grant for a continuing project to pay off easements so the city can cut trees around Robert LaFleur Municipal Airport; taking a final vote to vacate part of Lafayette Street that is a proposed but unaccepted part of the street; selling 5 Kimball St. for $12,103; and accepting $130,121, which is the police department’s share of forfeiture money from a criminal investigation, and placing that money in the department’s drug forfeiture revenue line.
The council also will discuss the Planning Board’s recommendation that the city prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries in the downtown but not in any other commercial area of the city and that the city not control any other type of medical marijuana-related operation anywhere in Waterville. The council had asked the board to recommend locations and restrictions for such operations.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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