Bath city councilors adopted a $17.26 million municipal budget Wednesday, which is $213,512, or 1.25%, higher than last year’s spending.
The slight increase, when combined with Regional School Unit 1 and Sagadahoc County budgets, is expected to increase property taxes by 1.46%. The increase would equate to a roughly $60 increase in taxes on a home valued at $200,000, according to Finance Director Juli Millett.
The city’s budget increase is spread across the general, capital, and landfill funds, according to Bath budget documents.
The general fund budget shows a $131,659, or 1.13%, increase stemming from personnel expenses such as increases in salaries and retirement contributions.
The general fund also includes 18 body cameras for Bath police patrol officers. The city plans to spend $17,000 on a contract with Axon, a law enforcement equipment manufacturer. The contract will last five years and total $80,000.
“We’re at a point where we need to be transparent with either video cameras or body cameras … and body cameras seemed to be the best option,” Bath Police Chief Mike Field told councilors last month.
The capital fund increased $20,956, or 2.57%, driven by debt payments on previous large purchases including McMann Field renovations, fire trucks and public works equipment.
Councilors also approved using $10,000 from this year’s council contingency fund and $10,000 from next year’s council contingency fund to allocate $20,000 to the Midcoast Youth Center.
Council Chair Aaron Park said this will close a funding gap left when the council proposed giving the youth center $3,000, a far cry from the requested $30,000 to match last year’s allocation.
Jamie Dorr, founder of the youth center known for serving local students, asked the council to reconsider because the $30,000 covers the organization’s operations bill, including paying for electricity, internet, trash removal and some food and materials the center offers students for free.
“Supporting this organization’s crucial work for our community’s youth is well-regarded by the city council and recognized as being critical work for our community,” Park wrote in a message to councilors.
The new budget will take effect on July 1.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.