RANGELEY – The town manager of Rangeley unveiled his proposed budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year Tuesday night to a small group of taxpayers at a joint hearing of the school and municipal boards.

Town Manager William Lundrigan and selectmen have proposed a budget of $2,989,386, higher than the $2,737,693 approved by voters last year. Lundrigan pointed out that the new proposed figure has been trimmed down significantly from the $3,050,921 originally requested by municipal department heads.

There were increases in the miscellaneous section of the budget, up nearly $120,000; fiscal services, up more than $15,000; and community services budgets, up nearly $20,000.

Lundrigan explained that the major increase in the total budget would be paid to Franklin Memorial Hospital, which has upped its charge for providing ambulance service to the Rangeley region from around $66,000 this current fiscal year to around $180,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Because ambulance service is contracted out, it falls under the “miscellaneous” heading on the budget.

“No one liked the increase,” said Mark Beauregard, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “But there didn’t seem to be an interest in lowering the level of ambulance service they provide.”

He assured taxpayers that Rangeley, and many other area towns, are working with the hospital to cut costs, adding that several years ago, when Rangeley provided its own ambulance service, the annual cost was comparable to what the hospital is requesting for next year.

Other increases are attributed to a $9,408 request from the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust for its invasive plant and water quality stewardship program, and an additional $24,500 being tacked on to the Fire Department’s budget due to the Rangeley Water District’s rate increase.

The Rangeley Public Library has also requested an additional $7,800, and the county tax has increased by an amount of $12,257 over last year to $273,460.

Another major increase of $97,802 is due to increased costs for salary and benefits, fuel, electricity, water and sewage fees and general operating supplies.

Townspeople were relatively quiet during Lundrigan’s presentation. They requested a more detailed line-by-line budget be presented instead of just one sheet that had each department’s budget. Lundrigan said he would do his best to provide this information, and that budget books were located at the town office and library.

School Superintendent Kenneth Coville also presented the budget for the Rangeley Lakes Regional School, which serves around 230 students in grades K-12. The budget, which has been through six revisions since initially presented in early February, is now proposed at $2,097,585, a 4.87 percent or $97,496 increase, from last year’s amount. Coville pointed out that cuts were made throughout the budget to keep the total increase below the $97,589 increases in wages and health insurance.

The total assessment of the school budget to the town of Rangeley will be just under $1.5 million, or 6.93 mills. That mill rate is up slightly from the current rate of 6.66 mills, but down from the average mill rate for the past six years of 7.21 mills.

More than $330,000 of the school’s revenue comes from the per-pupil tuition paid by area plantations. About 15 percent of the school’s students are non-Rangeley residents.

The town’s Budget Committee has asked Coville to try to bring the budget down to a 4.1 percent increase; however, because many of the increases are set in negotiated salary and benefits packages for employees, that could be tough.

Nevertheless, the school board will review the budget again at its May 13 meeting before it’s published in the town warrant. Voters will decide on both the municipal and school packages at their annual town meeting, Thursday, June 12.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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