RANDOLPH — Residents are set to weigh in on the town’s $1.56 million proposed budget July 31 in central Maine’s last town meeting of the year.
As proposed, the town’s spending plan is about $14,000, or less than 1%, higher than what town residents approved a year ago. And when combined with Randolph’s share of the Gardiner-area school district budget and the assessment for Kennebec County, the total spending plan comes in at $2.96 million, about 5.3% higher than the $2.84 million approved in the last fiscal year.
Matthew Drost
The main drivers of the slight increase are the levels of inflation that have affected the cost of things like office supplies and insurance, as well as a $7,000 increase to the town’s four salaried office positions to keep up with the cost of living, explained Matthew Drost, one of Randolph’s three selectmen.
“The total budget is I think around $100,000 more than last year, and shouldn’t adjust the (property tax) rate much at all,” he said. “We focused on keeping the impact on taxpayers reasonable and as close to zero as we could get it.”
For the municipal portion of the spending plan, just over half the total, or $862,000, will be raised through property tax; the balance will come from other sources to offset the impact of spending on Randolph property owners.
Drost said he doesn’t know yet if Randolph’s property tax rate of $17.40 per $1,000 of assessed value will increase, but if it does, it would not be drastic to taxpayers.
Because Randolph’s annual town meeting is after the county and school budget tax commitments are finalized, the other parts of their property tax bill have already been determined — $1,252,860 for Maine School Administrative District 11 and $151,639 for Kennebec County.
Randolph is the smallest town in Maine by size at 2 square miles and has just under 2,000 residents. While many towns hold municipal elections in conjunction with their annual town meetings, Randolph’s municipal elections are held in November.
The annual town meeting is set for 7 p.m. July 31 at the Town Office at 121 Kinderhook St.
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