When Gardiner elected officials meet this week, they are expected to make a policy decision on what to do with a portion of the city’s state revenue sharing.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved a state budget that set the revenue sharing rate at 3%, an increase from the 2.5% Gov. Janet Mills proposed in her budget.
By law, 5% of the receipts from sales tax and service provider, personal and corporate income tax collected by Maine state government is set aside to be shared with municipalities as revenue based on their state valuation, tax assessment and population. During the administration of Gov. Paul LePage, revenue sharing was scaled back to 2%, and municipal budgets, including Gardiner’s, were scaled back as a result.
Because the city and state budgets were essentially approved at the same time, the final revenue sharing figures had not been calculated. Gardiner’s share will be $118,566.
Christine Landes
Gardiner City Manager Christine Landes said Monday that city officials had initially estimated their share would be $106,404.
Now that the final number is in, city elected officials will decide how that money will be used, subject to the limitations spelled out in state law.
Landes detailed the options in a memo: They can create a special account so that the additional revenue sharing can be used for the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2020; allow the additional amount to lapse into fund balance; use it to lessen the amount of fund balance that’s anticipated to be used in the current budget; or use the amount of fund balance city officials approved in the budget and apply the additional revenue sharing to this year’s property tax calculations.
Landes is recommending the fourth option. That additional amount could decrease the city’s property tax rate by 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The property tax rate for the current budget year is being calculated this summer, but it is expected to be $22.20 per $1,000.
Gardiner councilors are also expected to:
• Hear a presentation on tax increment financing and credit enhancement agreements from Shana Cook Mueller of Bernstein Shur
• Consider a request from Gardiner Main Street to waive taxes on the vacant lot at 129 Water St.
• Confirm the appointment of Tracey Steuber as economic development director/planner
• Consider appointing Dennis Doiron and Brian Coombs to the Historic Preservation Commission. Ariel Ziemer to the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee and Marc Collins to the Gardiner Water District Trustees
• Consider accepting the minutes of the June 19 meeting
The Gardiner City Council meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council chamber at 6 Church St.
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