LISBON — Town Manager Glenn Michalowski gave a general overview of the initial municipal budget proposal, including the school and county share, during a Town Council meeting Tuesday. The proposal is nearly $2 million more than what was approved last year.

Town staff have proposed a $23 million budget, including the town’s county and school budget share, which is a $1.89 million increase over last year’s $21.2 million, according to Finance Director Samantha Bryant.

A few of the proposals include adding a full-time planning director and a domestic violence/juvenile detective position at the Police Department, according to Michalowski’s budget letter to councilors. Town officials are also looking into the transfer station’s revenue and expense imbalance, which is likely because of its plastics recycling program.

Michalowski is proposing a reorganization ordinance at the April 2 Town Council meeting, which is intended to redefine the town’s approach to managing the town planning staff, Michalowski said in an email to the Sun Journal.

The town uses North Star Planning Services of New Gloucester, but if the creation of the planning director position is approved, it will end its contract with North Star when someone is hired to fill the new position, he said.

Michalowski is designing the position to be expense-neutral, he said. The position will be funded with money usually set aside for North Star’s contract and funds usually used for an executive assistant staff position, which has been vacant, in the town manager’s office.

The planning budget approved last year was $27,679.20 for contracted professional services and that increased in this year’s proposed budget to $78,249.60, which is to cover the salary of the new planning director position, Bryant said.

The planning director will not oversee the entire Code Enforcement Department, rather he or she will oversee the development review process, ensure projects comply with local ordinances and plans, coordinate with developers, architects and the public to facilitate project approval, along with other possible duties, according to Michalowski.

Since about a year ago, the town has issued 49 permits for new single-family residences, mobile homes or duplexes, he said. There is also a developer starting road construction on an approved subdivision of 26 additional single-family residences that was originally approved in the 1980s.

“So, I’m trying to gauge how our development pace is comparing to surrounding towns but we are experiencing a pace of development that I’m not sure Lisbon has seen in recent history,” he said.

This year’s proposed Police Department budget is 11.6% higher than what was approved last year, going from $2.36 million to a $2.63 million request this year, according to Bryant. Town officials propose adding a domestic violence/juvenile detective position, along with a police supervisor role, Michalowski said in his letter.

“This addition will not only strengthen our capacity to address specific challenges but also underscore our department’s commitment to proactive and community-oriented policing,” he wrote.

Bryant is charged with getting to the bottom of the transfer station’s budget imbalance, which she is still working on, she said.

During budget planning last year for the current fiscal year, 2024, the town budgeted a transfer station revenue of $257,000, while it budgeted for transfer station expenses of $687,000, expecting that taxpayers will have to pay $431,000 for the revenue shortfall.

Though it is unclear what the exact transfer station revenue and expenses will be at the end of the current fiscal year, Bryant said the projections are on par with those expected expenses and revenue so far.

The town pays $83 per ton to dispose of regular trash, but it pays $136 per ton to dispose of plastic recycling, she said. She knows the town is losing money to its plastic recycling program but it is unclear at this time how much exactly. At one point, the town was making a profit on plastic recycling.

Residents do not pay an extra fee to recycle their plastic, it is lumped into the permit they pay to dispose of all of their waste, she said. The town makes a profit on cardboard and metal recycling.

It is still unclear how much of the budget will be raised through taxation, covered by revenues or appropriated from existing funds because the proposed budget has yet to be discussed by councilors and could change.

The Town Council and town staff were scheduled to hold a work session Saturday to go over the budget and discuss possible changes or additions to it. It was the first of multiple scheduled discussions for the next couple of months. The council is scheduled to adopt a final budget June 18.

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