MECHANIC FALLS — The Town Council and the Budget Committee on Monday went over Town Manager Koriene Low’s proposed $2.4 million budget, which shows a slight decrease in the tax rate.

If passed as initially presented, the spending plan would lower the amount raised by property taxes by about $16,000 and drop the tax rate slightly.

“The main directive that the council gave me,” Low said, “was to come in under this year’s budget.”

The rescue budget received special scrutiny following Matt Fifield’s admission that the department was having problems covering all the calls it received and his assessment of what it might take to correct the situation.

Fifield noted that the reality is that while there might be about seven EMTs who could respond, for the most part there are only four who can really be counted on.

“We are the only town in the area that has no per diem staff at all,” Fifield said, “even Minot has coverage three days a week.”

Fifield said part of the problem is the potential personal expense volunteers face just getting into the program.

The cost for a basic EMT course runs about $1,000 and that doesn’t address items such as gas and time spent away from one’s family, he said.

“It’s hard getting volunteers,” Fifield said. “Paying back that $1,000 takes a long time when you’re getting $9.75 a call.”

Fifield told the council and committee that he had four people who have recently completed basic fire training and who appear to be pretty good candidates for joining the rescue.

He also said the proposed budget includes $1,000 that could be used to help with EMT training costs.

Budget Committee member Bonnie Payette, noting that the local emergency volunteers were often underrated and underappreciated, said she supported paying for training rescue personnel.

“What you do is phenomenal,” Payette said.

Ollie Emery said he could go along with adding $3,000 to the rescue budget so that as many as four volunteers could receive EMT training.

His comments came after Low announced before the meeting that the latest estimates for state revenue-sharing showed the town could expect about $16,000 more than originally projected. 

No action was taken on any of the department budgets, but Finance Director Lisa Prevost was asked to add $3,000 to the rescue department budget.

Budget Committee members were somewhat concerned at the combined impact of a 9 percent rate increase for health insurance and a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for town employees.

The council and the committee will continue budget discussions March 21. Voters will decide on a budget at the polls in June.