FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee will meet Thursday, July 14, to consider changes county commissioners made June 30 to the proposed $6.1 million 2016-17 spending plan the panel had previously adopted.
The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Office at the county courthouse.
Of the proposed budget, $1.89 million is earmarked for the operation of the county jail.
The overall budget is about $300,000 more than last year’s spending plan, mostly due to increases in the jail budget. Previously the county raised about $1.62 million for the jail while it was a 72-hour holding facility and under the oversight of the state. The state restored the jail to a full-service facility in April 2015.
According to the statute governing the Franklin County budget process, if the adopted budget is changed by the county commissioners, the advisory committee may reject that change by a two-thirds vote of its membership. Those actions are final and are not subject to further action by either the county commissioners or the advisory committee.
The budget committee will take up a $16,542 decrease in the Sheriff’s Office budget for the health insurance plan for the Fraternal Order of Police. Deputies took a less-expensive insurance plan as part of its new collective bargaining agreement.
With the reduction in insurance and the proposed increases commissioners made to three program grants, it leaves the proposed budget at about $13,500 more than the budget panel approved on June 23.
Commissioners recommend $5,000 for Tri-County Mental Health. The budget committee had reduced the agency’s request from $20,000 to zero in June.
Commissioners also recommend that Western Maine Community Action Program be funded at $33,000, the same as last year. The agency had requested $40,000 but the budget panel reduced it to $30,000.
The final program grant is for the Greater Franklin Development Council. Commissioners recommend it be funded at $42,000. The council had requested $60,000. The budget committee agreed to fund the council at $20,000 in June, with $10,000 of it coming from the county’s tax-increment financing agreement connected to the unorganized territory.
The council was funded at $42,000 last year.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.