PARIS — Oxford County commissioners will meet at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, to authorize the 2018 county tax commitment.

County Administrator Scott Cole wrote in an email that from 3 to 4 p.m., commissioners will meet with “one or more department heads” in a work session format to “discuss budget and miscellaneous matters.”

After 4 p.m., Cole wrote that the commissioners will authorize the 2018 county tax commitment “for levy upon the towns.”

The previous year’s county tax commitment was set at $5.84 million, an increase of nearly 3 percent over the 2016 fiscal year.

The 2018 budget as enacted by the commissioners lists the tax commitment at $6.85 million, though Commission Clerk Abby Shanor said that number does not include the overlay “which will be determined at the (Feb. 5) meeting.”

According to the budget, the Building and Grounds Department will see the largest jump at $431,128, a $179,103, or 71.03 percent, increase over the previous year.

A majority of the increase within the department comes from the Oxford County Courthouse expansion and renovation, a primarily state-funded project that is part of a $90 million package funded by the Maine Legislature to make courthouses in Oxford, Waldo and York counties more secure.

According to the budget, the Budget Committee is requesting $95,534 toward the purchase of abutting properties, and $100,000 for the county’s participation in the expansion.

The county’s health insurance also saw an increase of $141,201, or 12 percent, from the previous year.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net