DURHAM – Selectmen, acting as assessors set the 2004 property tax rate at $19.50 per $1,000 valuation. That’s 90 cents more than last year.

The net amount to be raised in local taxes will be $3,349,542, and revenues are expected to total $3,637,752. The amount for town operations is $1,541,372; for schools $5,179,572; and for county taxes $266,350.

Selectmen awarded a paving contract to low bidder Pike Industries for $1.17 per square foot for reclamation and $35.50 per ton for asphalt. Added to the contract was necessary hand work, which wasn’t included in the original specifications, at a rate of $88 per ton. Preliminary work is expected to begin in about a month.

The annual agreement with the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments for participation in the hazardous waste collection Sept. 25 in Lewiston was signed.

Less-than-favorable weather conditions and other competing events were blamed for low receipts at Walker Brothers Circus last weekend. Proceeds after expenses were to have gone toward vinyl siding for the Eureka Community Center. The $158 in proceeds and a $17 donation paid the town’s expenses, Deborah Larrabee told selectmen.

Selectman Mike VanDerWerf said he was impressed with the circus. It was “clean, the animals well cared for, and they provided a good show,” he said.

Poland: Town treasury hit for $142,000

POLAND – The town’s treasury went down an unbudgeted $142,000 so that the state could sign off on its $18 million debt for building Poland Regional High School.

The town will now be sending the bill to the Poland School Committee to make up the loss, said Town Manager Richard Chick.

“Poland’s treasury is out $142,000 because we’ve paid the bill,” Chick said during a workshop session that selectmen held with the town’s budget and school committees. “But we can’t afford to eat that out of surplus.”

An audit by the state’s Department of Education revealed the shortfall last year, and the state needed to collect the funds before closing the books on the project. Chick went on a scavenger hunt through five years of town warrants, budgets and invoices to reconcile the discrepancy.

Chick said he first assumed that too much had been spent. Through the maze of town and school records, the town manager discovered that a five-year bond for $230,000 approved in 1997 had never been issued.

“We had two people chasing down the spending side of the project,” said Chick. “It turns out that the difference came from the funding side.”

Lewiston:

25 summonses

issued for speed

LEWISTON – Police stopped 48 vehicles and issued 25 summonses for speeding on one day in the first of a series of crackdowns planned for specific parts of the city over coming weeks.

Police said several drivers were traveling more than 50 mph in the 25-mph zone on Route 196, the Bleachery Hill section of Lisbon Street, between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. One motorist was arrested.

Although the high number of speeders caught in one morning was unusual, police warned that they will continue to crack down.

“Basically, the biggest complaints we have are speeding and noise,” said Lewiston Police Lt. Mike McGonagle.

Speeding fines run between $109 and $247, although they can soar to $489 for those caught in construction or school zones.

Auburn:

Man, 26, facing

prison for rape

AUBURN – A 26-year-old Auburn man was sent to prison for having sex with a 13-year-old girl he had met on the Internet.

Justice Ellen Gorman sentenced Joshua Whitlock to nine months and one day, which is the minimum length needed to send someone to state prison as opposed to county jail.

According to court documents, Whitlock met his victim last year in an Internet chat room. At some point, they agreed to meet in person at a local home where the victim was staying at the time, and they had sex.

The sex was consensual. However, it is still considered rape under Maine law because the girl was under 14.

Initially, Whitlock was charged with three counts of gross sexual assault stemming from incidents on July 2, Aug. 1 and Aug. 13 of last year.

Two of the charges were dropped in May when he agreed to plead guilty to the first count.

“I am sorry,” Whitlock said in court. “But I know that sorry doesn’t cut it. It’s only words.”

Minot:

School computers

get funding boost

MINOT – School Committee members from School Union 29 towns received lessons in technology as they approved plans and contracts to modernize their schools and central office.

School Union 29, which consists of Minot, Mechanic Falls and Poland, now has a three-year technology plan for improvements in administration, student instruction and parent access to information.

Desktop computers in the Union 29 administrative offices will receive a thorough cleaning, along with regular monthly maintenance, which previously had been neglected.

And the administrative office, which according to staff is one of four in the state still on an obsolete computer system, will convert to Windows and be compatible with the State Department of Education’s system.

To pay for these moves, elected officials agreed to use money left from the 2003-04 budget, to reallocate money budgeted for 2004-2005, and to borrow money in the form of a lease-purchase agreement against the 2006 budget.

Greene:

Software details

town spending

GREENE – The town has purchased software that will provide the Budget Committee and the town a more detailed picture of spending.

In the past, the town has lumped most of its spending into general accounts providing only a final dollar amount. Town Manager Steve Eldridge said although it was an effective process it did not give a clear perspective of what it costs to run each department.

The software TRIO will do just that.

“For instance, utilities,” he explained. “We had one budget area that covered all utility expenses in the town, instead of what it costs to run each office.”

With the new system, town officials will be able to see how much it costs to run, for example, the fire department and town office.

“It lays everything out better,” he said. “And will reduce the number of articles voted on during (town) meetings.”

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