RANGELEY — Voters will consider closing an anticipated $95,000 Police Department overdraft at a special town meeting Tuesday.
If approved, the overdraft will be closed using funds from the unassigned fund balance.
According to Marc Roy, the town’s consulting certified public accountant, the General Fund’s unassigned fund balance is projected to end the fiscal year June 30 somewhere between $5 million and $5.6 million.
The anticipated overage is factored into the projected balance, Town Manager Joe Roach said Wednesday.
If approved, taxes will not be affected because the money has already been raised.
“The town does not need to raise any money for the anticipated Police Department overdraft,” he said. “It already has the money in unassigned fund balance. However, the authority to spend the money from fund balance can only come from the legislative body through a town meeting.”
During a public hearing March 17, Roach said, “Last fall we had a full-time chief and no officers. Chief (Richard Caton IV]) helped us recruit a crew of officers. The 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 more overtime intensive that what we have done in the past,” he said during the public hearing. “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.”
If the question fails, Roach and Caton will need to discuss provisions in the collective bargaining agreement and formulate a layoff procedure until funds are available 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 officers 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 said.
The special town meeting vote will be by secret ballot. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town Office, 15 School St.
