1 min read

RUMFORD — Voters on June 9 approved the town budget of $13.16 million, according Town Clerk Beth Bellegarde.

The 1,100 voters approved all 47 articles, Bellegarde said Wednesday.

In a fairly tight race, four people ran for two positions on the Regional School Unit 10 board. Incumbent Dan Hodge led with 433 votes and Amanda Kolln with 431. Both terms are for three years. Jon Starr garnered 350 votes and Steve Hagan had 305.

Incumbent select board members Kevin Capponi and Jim Theriault ran unopposed for three-year terms.

The municipal budget has risen by $697,000, Town Manager George O’Keefe said. The 5.59% increase would have been higher but the finance committee approved the town manager’s request to cut the capital fund by $392,500, from $764,500 to $372,000.

“We’re slowing down the pace of our capital spending for a year,” he said, “and part of the reason for that is that we want to deliver the best possible budget. And the second thing is we have a very substantial amount of new taxable value coming online as of April 1, 2027.”

O’Keefe said financing for the new ladder truck the town will be getting “does not hit until 2027-28, and even that might be too soon. Depending on how the financing goes, we might be as far out as 2028-29 on the first payment for a ladder truck.”

Bruce Farrin is editor for the Rumford Falls Times, serving the River Valley with the community newspaper since moving to Rumford in 1986. In his early days, before computers, he was responsible for...

Join the Conversation

Please your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can subscribe here. Questions? Please see our FAQs.