STRONG — Selectmen Tuesday signed the 2016 tax commitment of $14.20 per $1,000 of property valuation, a drop from $14.70 in 2015.

They also reviewed options to the Maine Community Health Options health insurance increase for employees. The increase will cost the town approximately $5,000 more per year and increase the individual deduction from $250 to $500.

Board Chairman Jim Burrill said he would compare costs with Maine Municipal Association’s employee insurance plans.

“When we budget next year, we have to take into account that it has gone up $450 a month,” he said. “It’s still saving money.”

In other matters, selectman approved Worthley’s proposal to spend $1,784 to repair the vault in the Village Cemetery.

Worthley had recommended stonemason Charles Eagers of Farmington to begin the work in September.

Selectmen also continued a previous meeting’s discussion of ways to pay for road repair and maintenance.

Selectman Rob Elliott had asked Pond for the cost analysis of the recent repaving and ditching on West Freeman Road.

Road Foreman Duayne Boyd had rented an excavator from resident Gilbert Reed, and Elliott said voters would expect them to offer a comparison of costs for future work if the town hired a contractor to do the entire job.

“We know it’s going to come up next year, so let’s have our ducks in a row,” Elliott told Pond.

The goal was to compare “apples to apples” and have some solid figures to explain to voters as to why they are making a recommendation, he said.

“As a liaison for the Highway Department, if you want to know how many hours they spend on it and the exact cost, it’s going to be pretty hard to do,” Pond said. “I’m not even going to attempt to do it.”

Pond suggested that road work could be interrupted at any time when employees were needed for other duties, and no one had expressed any concerns about past costs.

Pond suggested that the two employees might have to leave the road work to attend to other duties.

Boyd said that if any town resident wanted to know more about the costs to do the West Freeman Road or other jobs in the past, they should talk to him or the selectmen and ask for the figures.

Elliott suggested that selectmen would be more prepared by being proactive, rather than waiting until voters raised these questions.

Selectmen agreed to review the process and work together to develop a process that they all understood and could explain to taxpayers.

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