CHESTERVILLE — Guy Iverson, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said he’s proud town officials and the Budget Committee worked together to decrease the 2016-17 budget without cutting services.
When voters gather at 7 p.m. Monday, March 28, at the Town Hall, they will consider a budget that is 4.7 percent less than this fiscal year.
Chesterville’s tax rate is $16.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value. It will decrease to less than $16 if voters pass the 2016-17 budget as proposed.
The paving budget is $140,000, compared to $110,000 last year, because the town had some road projects that needed to be done.
In the proposed budget, $5,000 is for cemetery restoration. Iverson said the cemetery beside the town garage is in disrepair and the money will go a long way toward restoring it.
Also, $5,000 was put into the tools fund for the highway department, and $500 is proposed for the North Chesterville Extension Homemakers.
“They do a lot at the Town Office,” Iverson said of the group. “We felt that’s someone we should support.”
Problems with the boiler have plagued the Town Office recently. Iverson said five companies looked at it to see what was wrong, and came back with different answers.
“Two of them said it was a gasket,” he said.
It costs between $300 and $500 to replace the gasket, Iverson said. If that fails, the town will have to get a new boiler, which costs around $8,500.
“If it should go down, we’ll ask the citizens to replace it,” he said.
The town is looking at collecting property taxes twice per year instead of every August.
“We’re approving the warrant in March, but we don’t get the money until August, so we have to go to a shoestring budget,” Iverson said.
Another goal, he said, is to increase the general fund, which has a balance of $560,000. It will be increased by $113,000 if voters pass the budget.
Iverson said he would eventually like to see the general fund at $1 million or more to provide enough money to cover emergencies or unexpected purchases during the year.
“If we need a major purchase such as a boiler, we can take it out of the general fund,” he said.
bmatulaitis@sunmediagroup.net
“We’re approving the warrant in March but we don’t get the money until August, so we have to go to a shoestring budget.” — Guy Iverson, chairman of the Chesterville Board of Selectmen
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