A $3.2 million municipal budget would pay off all of Naples’ town debt, if approved by residents at their annual town meeting Wednesday, June 18.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the town gymnasium at 15 Village Green Lane.

The budget proposed by the Selectboard shows an increase of almost $246,000 from the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The biggest increases are in debt service, with a proposed rise of more than $168,000; the capital reserve budget, with a proposed rise of more than $70,000; and the capital improvement budget, with a rise proposed of more than $91,000.

The budget would pay off all the town’s debt, said Town Manager Derik Goodine. Money taken from town savings and other revenue besides property taxes would offset this expenditure, keeping the tax rate constant at $15.80.

New proposed capital improvement projects for the upcoming year would include $10,000 for consultant costs for dredging the Chute River and preparing to purchase Kents Landing, a piece of waterfront property on Long Lake across from the town office. Goodine said the Land for Maine’s Future program would help fund the purchase.

“It’s the perfect piece of land to adjoin the town beach,” Goodine said, adding that Naples currently has no public access to Long Lake.

Other capital improvement projects new for the upcoming year include a total of $100,000 to pave the parking lots at the town office and recreation field. For the capital reserve fund, the Selectboard and Budget Committee recommend $150,000 for a future fire department ladder truck and $200,000 for paving.

The budget includes almost $3,000 as a contribution to a proposed bus service between Portland and Bridgton. Town residents voted on this question in the May 20 non-binding referendum, indicating 370-313 that they would use the proposed service. Implementing the bus route, which was proposed by the Greater Portland Council of Governments, would require towns along the route to chip in for part of the cost.

The proposed budget shows decreases in many categories, most notably in the roads and highways budget by more than $65,000, in the dispatch expense budget by more than $22,000, and in the sanitation budget by $16,000.


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