NEWRY – Depending on the whim of town meeting voters Monday, the municipal budget could increase $50,000 or decrease $71,000 from last year.
Selectmen Chairman Steve Wight said recently that if all 50 warrant articles were OK’d, the budget would total $659,000. Last year’s budget was $605,000. The budget does not include county tax and SAD 44 assessments, which are to be decided later in the year.
In Article 42, selectmen recommend taking $125,000 from surplus to offset taxes. Wight said the town’s auditor advised the undesignated fund balance of around $1 million is too large for a town its size.
The town’s current tax rate is $8.30 per $1,000 of valuation.
Warrant Articles 23 through 27 are expected to generate considerable discussion, because they involve proposed ordinance changes. Two of the larger modifications pertain to fire suppression methods, and a reduction from 250 feet to 75 feet in the setback around forested wetlands not identified by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as wildlife habitat.
Part of the fire suppression article would require developers of certain new residential and commercial subdivisions and buildings to either include fire ponds or cisterns, or install sprinkler systems in buildings.
Other discussion-provoking articles include Nos. 22 and 15.
Article 22 seeks to take $65,000 from the Fire Department Capital Reserve Account to buy an emergency response pickup truck, all-terrain vehicle and trailer, and a wheel and skis kit for the department’s rescue sled.
Wight said the new truck would replace an older, unreliable state-loaned vehicle that is used to fight forest fires and for backcountry rescue operations. The kit would be used to raise the sled off the ground to give victims a more comfortable ride.
Selectmen recommend raising $25,000 in Article 15 for Bear River Grange Hall repairs. Wight said part of the money would be used to pave the dirt driveway because winter plowing tears it up every year.
Prior to the 7 p.m. meeting in the Grange Hall, there is to be a potluck supper from 5:30 to 7.
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