OAKLAND — The Town Council and Budget Advisory Committee have approved the annual town meeting warrant articles that Oakland voters are to consider in May.

The 24-article warrant, which town officials endorsed Wednesday night, represents a budget that seeks $3.59 million from taxation. The amount is a $277,256 increase, or 8.36%, to the $3.3 million that voters approved from taxation in 2023-24.

The annual town meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on May 7 at the Messalonskee High School Performing Arts Center at 131 Messalonskee High Drive.

Town Manager Kelly Pinney-Michaud said before Wednesday’s meeting that the proposed budget includes a $63,000 increase in Delta Ambulance fees, 5.5% increase in insurances, $197,000 for a final payment on a fire truck and a 3% cost-of-living increase for town employees.

Pinney-Michaud said town officials will not know how the property tax rate of $14.40 per $1,000 of assessed valuation will be affected until the school and county figures are known and taxes are committed in July.

“There’s no real fluff,” Pinney-Michaud said of the budget.

Councilors and budget committee members handily approved most warrant articles, but an article asking the town to raise and appropriate $90,000 for capital improvements generated a lengthy discussion. Officials are asking for a total of $60,000 to lease or purchase five public safety vehicles, and buy three police shields and 11 rifles. The five vehicles include a property maintenance van, three police cruisers and a vehicle for the fire chief that can carry equipment, including items related to a command center. Gear does not fit into the vehicle he is using now, officials said, and is spilling into the back seat.

Councilor Don Borman said he is not generally in favor of leasing, although it may be a good deal.

“After three or four years,” he said, “we’re going to have to start replacing things again.”

The proposal was not part of the original budget and came in late, Borman said, adding he was not against the proposal, but he did not feel comfortable with it.

Council Chairman Mike Perkins said he and Pinney-Michaud, police Chief Rick Stubbert and a lieutenant discussed what they wanted to see for public safety. The lieutenant, who is trained in tactical matters, noted that the officers are not prepared for school shootings. Perkins referred to the mass shooting last October in Lewiston in which 18 people were killed and 13 injured, and said officers need to be adequately equipped and prepared. The Police Department’s weapons are also antiquated, Perkins said, referring to the lieutenant’s comments.

“When a shooting happens, you want to be prepared,” Perkins said. “If you’re not prepared, you’re going to lose children and you’re going to lose police officers.”

Budget Advisory Committee member Don Ponitz said he did not want to see anyone put in jeopardy, but he agreed with Borman that the matter was late coming to the budget process, and officials needed more time to discuss it.

Budget committee member Kelly Roderick agreed, saying, “It just was a lot to take in in a short period of time.”

Asked about the cruiser fleet, Stubbert said three of the town’s police vehicles are in the garage and one is on the road. The department cannot use two electric vehicles given to the department for patrol purposes. Pinney-Michaud said the town is getting rid of four cruisers and adding three.

Councilor Bob Nutting said changes could be made at any time to the proposed budget. The fact that something was discussed in late February that was not being considered in January is not a problem, Nutting said. That is how the process works.

“I’m not troubled by the timing of the changes in the budget,” he said.

Budget committee member Su Leigh said she was in a park in Colorado in 1999 when the Columbine High School shooting that killed 12 students and a teacher occurred. If police are not given equipment necessary for such situations, “then shame on us,” she said.

Stubbert said he did not think the conversation needed to be adversarial.

“If anybody has any questions anytime, come see me,” he said. “I have an open-door policy.”

Borman ultimately voted to approve the article. The Budget Advisory Committee approved it 7-4, with Roderick, Ponitz and Chairman Mike Rossignol among those who voted in opposition.

Borman voted against Article 16, however, which asked that $6,181 be raised from taxation for community service organizations. Borman said he was voting against it because there were no funds for LifeFlight of Maine, which used its helicopter to fly 75 people whose lives were in danger from Waterville hospitals. The budget committee passed the article in a 6-5 vote.

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