2006 2007 Increase

Total spending $4.95M $6.47M 30.7%

Raised from taxation $3.79M $3.95M 4.2%

Other credits (non tax income) $1.16M $2.52M 117.2%

Oxford County spending up in 2007

PARIS – The county Budget Committee has released a final version of the 2007 budget, which now needs to be approved by commissioners at their Dec. 19 meeting.

Under the proposed budget, total spending increases from $4.95 million in 2006 to $6.47 million in 2007. But what appears to be a more than 30 percent spending increases, including a 10-fold increase for the county’s Emergency Management Agency, is mostly attributable to an accounting change, said Allyson Chase, the county EMA’s administrative assistant.

The coming budget cycle is the first year the county’s EMA will book all pass-through funds from the federal Department of Homeland Security, which typically are handed down to towns in the form of grants.

The county Budget Committee has approved an additional employee for the EMA to be hired in July but beyond that what appears to be an eye-popping spending jump for the agency is all about accounting, Chase said.

“Nothing has changed with our budget,” Chase said. “The thing that did happen is a requirement to put all Homeland Security money passed from federal to state to county to town in there.”

Chase said she believed the change was made in an attempt to make the county’s budget more transparent but also out of concern over problems the town of Norway had involving federal Community Development Block Grant funds that were embezzled from the town over a period of several years.

Meanwhile, the amount of the county budget raised from countywide property tax would increase 4.2 percent under the proposed budget going from $3.79 million in 2006 to $3.95 million in 2007.

This is less than the original 9.6 percent increase requested by county department heads but slightly more than the 3.8 percent increase approved by commissioners.

About three weeks ago, commissioners slashed items from the budget, but placed them on a revisit list, meaning that they would reconsider them if funds allowed them to.

The county’s Regional Communications Center is also being allowed to hire another person and add more hours to an existing position under the proposed budget.

This will allow a clerk in the dispatch center to program the Spillman software, which will lead to better emergency response.

The communications center, the jail and the Sheriff’s Office have been allocated $2,916 apiece to update and upgrade the Spillman software, used for emergency response. While most department budgets saw no increases or modest bumps, others were given more than they requested including $1.1 million for the Sheriff’s Department, up from $924,971 in 2006 and $818,792 in 2005. The department asked for $1.06 million.

The proposed budget also increases spending for the county treasurer’s office from $73,217 in 2006 to a proposed $90,264 in 2006. The office asked for $95,544.

Items that were slashed include contingent funds, deferred compensation, $10,000 for the Bethel airport and $1,000 for a new computer for the county administrator.

Commissioners are expected to vote on the budget Dec. 19.

Sun Journal Regional Editor Scott Thistle contributed to this report.