LIVERMORE FALLS — There will be no Budget Committee recommendations on the annual town meeting warrant because the committee has lacked a quorum for meetings and the four remaining members have resigned, according to Town Manager Amanda Allen.
The Budget Committee submitted a resignation before the April 5 Board of Selectmen meeting. It is signed by Thomas Barker, his wife, Carole Barker, Trudy Bishop and Joshua Dick.
Allen provided a copy of the letter after the meeting.
Members wrote that the 2022-23 municipal budget should have been completed by February to allow the committee time to do its job as advisors to selectmen.
Allen said last week that selectmen started developing the budget early this year to try to get it done by April 1.
Typically the budget has not been completed before late March or early April for a June vote. The proposal then goes to a public hearing in April.
The Budget Committee Policy approved Aug. 21, 2006, states the committee is made up of nine registered voters appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Town employees are not allowed to serve. The terms are three years and staggered, but a member may continue until a replacement is appointed.
“A quorum necessary to conduct business is at least a majority of members,” according to the policy.
“It seems hypocritical of the Board of Select persons to hold the Budget Committee to a higher standard” in relation to a quorum, according to the committee’s letter. It said there are supposed to be seven to nine members and questioned why the quorum had to be five if there were seven members in attendance.
The letter asked if selectmen have asked people to be on the committee.
A selectman’s motion to appoint Sheila Scanlan on March 1 died for lack of a second.
“You may not like a person personally, yet is that a real reason for not allowing them to serve on a committee when it is the best interest of our town to have a full committee? You may have noticed that there is a shortage of volunteers to serve on any committee,” the letter stated.
“It has been a frustrating honor to serve the residents of this town,” according to the letter.
The Budget Committee walked out of a selectmen meeting in April 2013 during budget discussions. Members proposed eliminating positions and reducing wages when they didn’t have the authority to do so, a former selectman said at the time.
A public hearing on the 2022-23 municipal budget is set for 6:30 p.m. April 25 at the Town Office. The annual meeting is scheduled June 14.
The budget is $2.9 million, which is $189,010.45 more than the current budget, not factoring in anticipated revenues and assessments for Regional School Unit 73 and Androscoggin County .
Selectmen added about $11,000 April 5 to adjust for Almighty Waste’s higher hauling and disposal costs. The company sent Public Works foreman Bill Nichols a 30-day notice about the Auburn business’ operating costs.
On May 1, the cost to haul household waste to ecomaine in Portland will go from $255 per load to $315 per load. The cost to haul demolition material will go from $1 to $170 per load. The cost to dispose of demolition material will go from $60 per ton to $109 per ton, Nichols told selectmen.
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