BRUNSWICK

There will be no additional tax increase to make up for state revenue sharing reductions.

During a brief special meeting Thursday, Town Councilors approved a newly amended 2014 municipal budget by a count of 4-2, with Chairwoman Suzan Wilson and District 6 Councilor Margo Knight in opposition.

Councilors Ben Tucker, Sarah Brayman and Benet Pols were absent.

The amended budget trims departmental spending by $220,610 and defers $87,000 in residential paving.

However, $9,000 in fire department on-call stipends were restored through an amendment offered by at-large Councilor John Richardson Jr.

Richardson’s amendment came after District 4 Councilor John Perreault offered an amendment to preserve funding for the stipend by charging a fee each time the fire department sends equipment to car accidents that is not needed.

He later offered “to take $18,000 off the River Road paving project” scheduled for later in the year.

“It’s an important factor, and if 100 feet of my road doesn’t get paved, it’s not going to make or break that road for the rest of this year,” Perreault said. “But I do believe that not having the call department will be detrimental to this town’s ability to move forward.”

Perreault’s attempted amendment frustrated Town Manager Gary Brown, because it would have held up a $25 million budget at the last minute for $9,000.

“This is the final action needed to bring the budget back into balance without an additional increase in the tax rate,” Brown said. “It’s not something that we take a lot of pleasure in discussing … I think some deference ought to be given to the fire chief as to where he thinks his department can afford to make savings.”

Brown pointed out that no on-call firefighters answered the six most recent calls.

Richardson’s amendment, which passed 4-2 — again with Wilson and Knight opposed — would use profits from the eventual sale of the Parks and Recreation building at 30 Federal St.

Councilors agreed in May to sell the building for “not less than $200,000,” to Brunswick Development Corp., which in turn will sell it to Wiscasset-based nonprofit Coastal Enterprises Inc.

However, a final selling price has yet to be negotiated, Brown said.

If not enough profit is made from the building sale to fund the on-call stipend, the $9,000 would be made up “from some other funding source in the future,” Richardson said.

Departmental cuts and paving deferrals will fill the remainder of the $316,000 budget gap without raising taxes beyond the 6.6 percent increase already approved.

No further changes were made to the school department’s budget, which already had been approved by voters during the first validation vote June 11.

Residents again will have to ratify the school budget on Aug. 20. Polling will take place at the Brunswick Junior High School on Columbia Street. jtleonard@timesrecord.com

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu