Just before the stroke of midnight, the Windham Town Council meeting adjourned Tuesday night with the 2005/06 municipal budget finally ready for public vote. The total budget is $12.57 million, which is 8.12 percent more than this fiscal year, with $5.75 million to be generated from property tax revenue.

The increase is primarily due to energy costs and salary and benefit increases. Though the budget was just short of the LD1 spending cap, Town Manager Anthony Plante estimates that Windham’s property tax rate will actually decrease by 5.79 percent (from $19.00 to $17.90 per thousand).

Over the course of the evening, councilors discussed amendments to the projected budget on both the expenditure and revenue sides. Before making amendments, Town Manager Anthony Plate discussed the order of process if the council were to make amendments to the budget.

“We are the cap. There is no additional room to add tax revenue without going to some form of override vote,” Plante said. “The only way to add a dollar of expenditure at this point is to add a dollar of revenue from an existing source, identify a dollar of revenue from a new source, or a dollar in cuts from somewhere else in the budget or some combination of the three.”

While some cuts were made in the course of the amendment process, most of the money to be appropriated for the amendments will come from the fund balance where carry-over funds from the previous fiscal year are reserved.

Councilor Tom Bartell suggested that $50,000 be appropriated in order to reevaluate assessment of property in Windham. This is to compare current property value to the fair real estate market value. The council hopes to save the town money by assessing on its own rather than hiring a firm to assess property for them.

Councilor Lloyd Bennett asked that $200,000 be put towards work on a new town office annex of which a rough sketch has already been drawn.

The council voted to contribute $12,500 to Little Sebago Lake Association to help fight the lake’s milfoil problem. Last month, the LSLA asked the council to consider donating money to the cause as an unmet need. In order to be eligible for a matching contribution from an anoynomous donor, the LSLA must raise $25,000 from towns surrounding the lake.

Another $4,150 was added to the town manager’s salary with a retroactive date of April 1st. The council also approved a $5,083 raise in the town clerk’s salary.

Another $120,000 has been allotted to instate a pay-hike for entry-level municipal employees of Windham. This hike will help keep Windham’s pay-rate at a competitive level with surrounding towns.

And $22,500 is being subtracted from the rock salt costs for snow removal. This reduction is due to a carry-over of unused rock salt from this past winter.

Councilor Shaughnessy asked for $15,000 to be appropriated for a hazardous waste program. This program would offer a method of disposal for hazardous waste.

Councilor Wisecup advocated that $10,000 be appropriated to start an “open space” fund. This fund would allow the town to purchase land for strictly recreation and preservation purposes. Though the council voted down the initial $10,000, they did approved $1,000 in funds to secure a line for “open space” in the budget for coming years.

The new fee ($12.50) for the new garbage bags go into affect in September instead January as so to create revenue of $32,000. However the council, in the same gesture, approved $20,000 to reinstate the “silver bullet” recycling program for Windham. Curbside recycling, along with bulky waste, will still be in effect.

School budget

The council voted to approve the Windham school budget of 2005/06. The school budget ($26.59 million) is up 9.23 percent from the past fiscal year. This is primarily due to debt service. The first principal and interest payment for the new Windham High School ($1.2 million) is due this year. Rising insurance rates and energy costs have also contributed to the increase in spending. However due to $3.5 million in additional state funding, the school budget will not cause any rise in Windham’s tax rate.

“Even though we do have an increase, we are able to turn back $1.3 million to go toward reduction in taxation,” Assistant Superintendent Donn Davis said.

Both the municipal and school budget will be up for public vote at Windham’s Annual Town Meeting on June 18.

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