BATH
The Bath City Council approved all items for the 2018 fiscal year budget on Wednesday, which comes in at $15,710,482. The budget marks an increase of $151,566 from 2017, or a .97 percent hike.
The increase is due to a rise in city employee salaries and benefits, as well as the first bond payment for a voter approved city sewer debt. The Bath bus fund and train and trolley expenses add to the increase as well.
City tax increases are being offset by a shift in capital expenditures for the Bath landfill — funded with the recent voter-approved landfill bond — a lower overall capital budget and applying more road bond debt to the tax incremental financing program. This leads to a city tax increase of $122,896, or .73 percent.
Regional School Unit 1 will see a $361,349 tax increase in 2018, to the tune of 1.81 percent, and Sagadahoc County will see a $72,746 increase, or .37 percent.
The total property tax increase stands at $578,991 — or 2.91 percent — but will be offset by a reduction in the real estate allocation to the Wing Farm tax increment financing plan. Once the reduction is applied, the total increase will stand at 1.8 percent, saving taxpayers around $200,000.
Two bond ordinances were also approved by the council on Wednesday. The first was a bond of no more than $621,000, plus sale premiums and investment earnings. The bond will be appropriated to fund service vehicles for the city, including a fire chief vehicle, a police vehicle, an ambulance, a plow truck, a dump truck, a street sweeper and a wood chipper.
The second bond approved was a supplemental appropriation $289,000. These surplus funds will be available to the council for a number of unanticipated expenditures.
“Every year since the expenditure limitation was adopted by the city — going back several decades — the city council has appropriated the amount available under the expenditure limitation that is unspent,” said City Manager Bill Giroux. “So money that is appropriated by the city council but is unspent can be moved forward and always has been moved forward by the council so that we don’t penalize ourselves for underspending, and get money that is available to help the city.”
Both bonds will take effect in 21 days.
bgoodridge@timesrecord.com
Tax total
• THE TOTAL property tax increase stands at $578,991 — or 2.91 percent — but will be offset by a reduction in the real estate allocation to the Wing Farm tax increment financing plan. Once the reduction is applied, the total increase will stand at 1.8 percent, saving taxpayers around $200,000.
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