EUSTIS — Voters will consider a $10,770 spending increase at the annual town meeting 9 a.m. Saturday, March 6, at the Stratton-Eustis Community Building.
Elections for municipal officials will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 5, at the same location. Voters will elect one selectman, one planning board member and one school board director, all for three years. Incumbents Steve St. Jean, Lori Lemoni and Sue Fotter are running unopposed to fill the seats.
According to selectman Steve St. Jean, last year’s budget was $1,209,238, and this year’s proposed request is $1,220,008. Most budget changes reflect costs of doing business, he said. The town’s annual property tax rate of $13.10 per $1,000 of property value hasn’t changed in the past several years.
The budget includes the proposed $5,000 increase for the fire department. It does not include approving $25,000 per year for five years to extend a section of sidewalk to the Stratton School.
That sidewalk article is expected to be a big topic of discussion, St. Jean said.
The Maine Department of Transportation could provide grant funding for a portion of the cost to extend an existing town sidewalk from 24 School Street to the school. If voters approve pursuing the option, selectmen would submit the grant application. If the grant is approved, voters would be required to contribute their share of construction costs, budgeted at $25,000 annually for the next five years, starting in 2021. The town’s share can be raised from taxes or appropriated or a combination of both.
“If we get the MDOT grant, and if voters approve the town’s share, construction would begin in 2025,” St. Jean said.
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