OXFORD — Selectmen on Thursday evening recommended that a $6.12 million budget be presented to voters at Town Meeting in July.
The figure for 2020-21 was presented to the board by Town Manager Butch Asselin and is about $360,000 more than the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Selectmen had requested breaking out county and school assessment from municipal expenses to make the overall finances more transparent. The budget line items will appear differently than in previous years.
The budget includes money for minimal overtime in some departments such as administration and recreation. Asselin said that in the past Town Office staff has taken comp time for extra hours worked but it affects operations and he would prefer to track it on the books. The Recreation Department has one employee who sometimes has to work on days off to accommodate special and booked events.
The Welchville Dam spillway on the Little Androscoggin River. Advertiser Democrat file photo
The budget does not have more money for planned rehabilitation work to the Welchville and Thompson Lake dams. Asselin said both projects will be funded with money left from 2019-20. If the Thompson Lake project exceeds the the $314,000 available, Asselin said it would be covered from the town’s surplus fund.
In other business, selectmen approved having the town meeting on Saturday, July 11, at the Oxford Elementary School on Pleasant Street and the annual elections Tuesday, July 14, at the Public Safety Building on Route 26. The election coincides with the statewide primary.
The board also approved the annual town meeting warrant.
A Maine Department of Environmental Protection grant for $175,000 was approved for handling wastewater facility sludge.
Selectmen voted to write of uncollectable real estate taxes totalling $2,323 for mobile homes destroyed or removed from properties prior to foreclosure and released a quit claim deed for back taxes on an other property that were paid in full last month.
In his report, Asselin said he has been receiving calls and emails about lake levels. Gates on the town’s dams will be closed May 1. Water levels will rise 16 inches at that point. He said he is also researching whether to pursue refinancing sewer bonds because interest rates are low enough that it may save money.
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