The $4.7 million proposed municipal budget in Casco includes an increase of 14.6% from current spending, fueled in part by errors in the 2020-21 tax commitment that will add $151,000 to be raised from taxes.

The total municipal, county, school budgets being proposed is just short of $11.75 million for 2021-22, a 4.8% increase. The projected property tax rate is $16.16 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation, up 56 cents from $15.60. However, interim Town Manager Don Gerrish said Wednesday he thinks the town will be able to reduce the budget further. As it stands, the owner of a house valued at $250,000 in Casco could expect to pay $4,040 in property taxes, about $140 more than this year.

Gerrish said Tuesday that the assessing and legal budgets were not included on last July’s town meeting warrant by mistake, and math errors in the facilities and public works budget led to the missing $151,476 in the 2020-21 tax commitment.

He said the town had planned to hold a special referendum vote to include the missing amounts but was not able to before Cumberland County’s Regional Assessing Program committed the tax rate in August 2020.

“With everything going on, someone just missed it,” Gerrish said of the unallocated funds.

In addition, fulfilling some of the select board’s goals account for the roughly $600,000 increase in the 2021-22 budget, Gerrish wrote in his memo to the board March 16. Around $160,000 would be added to the public works budget for a new full-time employee, paving improvements and new equipment. Around $35,000 would be set aside for a new comprehensive plan, which was last updated in 2007. There is also $15,000 in the town administration budget for a pay and benefit study.

The manager’s budget also proposes $25,000 for the parks budget for a new pier at one of the town’s beaches. Gerrish is also proposing an additional $63,000 for fire/rescue to hire four full-time firefighters/EMTs.

The proposed overlay of $103,666 is flat-funded. Gerrish explained that Maine law allows towns and overlay to set aside money raised from taxes for unexpected expenses.

There is a decrease of just less than 1% in Casco’s contribution to the Lake Region School District, which would bring the allocation to around $6.6 million, down from $6.64 million.

Estimated revenues from excise and other taxes, fees, state revenue sharing and other state tax relief programs are just less than $1.9 million, a 7% increase from the current year, bringing the net budget to be raised from property taxes to around $10 million. The revenues do not include what is raised from property taxes.

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