MECHANIC FALLS — The Town Council approved a $1.40 mill increase in the property tax rate Monday night due to Regional School Unit 16’s twice-failed budget.

The mill rate increase from $14.00 to $15.40 will result in an approximate tax increase of $140 per $100,000 of valuation for a total tax of $1,540 per $100,000 valuation.

According to state law, in order to set the town property tax rate when there is a delay in setting the schools budget, the budget proposed at the district meeting must be used to determine local taxes regardless of whether the amount was rejected in the referendum.

Mechanic Falls used the budget figure of $28.8 million, which failed the validation vote on July 30 but had passed at the district budget meeting on July 16.

Once a final RSU budget for 2024-2024 is passed, if it is lower than the district budget number used to set the tax rate, the RSU will credit the communities.

The town’s municipal budget of $3.59 million, which passed by referendum, is $16,000 lower than last year’s budget.

In other business

Town Manager Vic Hodgkins announced that the railings on the bridge over the Little Androscoggin River, which will be called The Bill Dunlop Memorial Bridge following an act of the state Legislature, will get a new paint job and high-grade asphalt when it is resurfaced in 2025.

Hodgkins added that the bridge’s infrastructure passed inspection by the Department of Transportation.

He did point out that DOT estimates that the work will take 45 days to complete, and delays and possible detours for regular traffic patterns will likely occur.

The bridge sits at the junction of routes 11, 121 and 124.

Hodgkins said no further rot was discovered when four windows in the Police Department section were replaced on the municipal building.

The work includes replacing insulation and drywall, extending the tiled drop ceiling, sheathing the exterior wall above the windows and replacing vinyl siding.

Voting for the 2024 presidential election will occur at the American Legion Hall on Elm Street on Nov. 5.

The Town Council approved moving the voting stations from the basement of the municipal building, enabling voters a single floor entrance and exit.