RANGELEY — A public hearing was held on Monday, March 17 at Rangeley Lakes Regional School. The hearing was held in anticipation of an upcoming Special Town Meeting to address a projected overdraft in the Rangeley Police Department budget.

“Last fall we had a full time chief and no officers,” said Town Manager Joe Roach. “Chief [Richard Caton IV] helped us recruit a crew of officers. I made the decision to hire all of them. We have all three of them on board. As a result of that, long story short, will end up in an almost $95,000 overdraft at the end of the year.”

The components of the overdraft, according to Roach, are contract differences from year to year, equaling $54,000. The rest is attributed to overtime, he said.

“The schedule, which is a 24-hour schedule of availability, is move overtime intensive that what we have done in the past,” he added. “The board is aware of this. The board wanted the town to have its own police department. Chief and I worked on getting us to that point. We are now making sure that the Town Meeting legislative body has the opportunity to act on the overdraft before it actually happens.”

The town has a recurring article on the Town Meeting warrant where overdrafts are considered retrospectively, Roach explained.

“We may have a line item that goes over by $3,000 or $4,000 at the end of the year and then the Town Meeting says we will close all overdrafts from the unassigned fund balance. This is the same question, it is just pointed directly at the police department,” he said.

Roach added that the unassigned fund balance on Monday, March 17 was between $5.3 million and $5.5 million. The $95,000 overdraft is built into that balance.

“If this passes, this will not affect your taxes. That money has already been raised,” he clarified.

Resident Chris Farmer questioned why funds could not be absorbed from other departments that may be under budget rather than pull from reserves.

Roach explained the board does not have the authority to move such large amounts from other departments.

“If the question fails, the Chief and I will have to talk about the provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and what the layoff procedure is until we have funds to operate the department. I should add, the Town is self-insured for unemployment so the cost of unemployment would come from the Town, if we find ourselves in that spot,” Roach said.

The three officers split coverage time with rotating shifts. Officers work 24-hour shifts and then have 48 hours off. Caton’s responsibility is mostly administrative, Roach explained.

“One of the items we have been successful in getting implemented is a Sidebar Agreement that states they will be 18 hours on duty and have a six-hour on-call rest period. That has reduced the projected cost in the new budget,” he continued.

The Special Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 8 at the Town Office. Polls will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots are available at the Town Office.