BRUNSWICK
Curtis Memorial Library and community organization People Plus warned that cuts to their proposed budget increases would ultimately harm the people whom the organizations serve.
At a budget hearing Thursday, however, Brunswick’s town council said they are looking at all areas in an attempt to reduce the municipal side of a proposed budget increase.
People Plus’s mission is to “address the social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual needs of all our members, and to promote their independence.” This year, the town funded People Plus to the tune of $110,000.
People Plus requested $160,000 for the next fiscal year, a figure Interim Town Manager and Finance Director John Eldridge wants to reduce to $130,000.
People Plus representative Mike Feldman said decreases to People Plus’s request may hurt thousands of citizens who use his organization’s programs and services. Feldman, a former town councilor, urged the council to give People Plus “your continued support and not to cut their budget request.”
However, Council Chairman Benet Pols noted that People Plus is still allotted a sizable increase under Eldridge’s proposal. The town also pays the debt on People Plus’s building, at a cost of $83,000 this year, according to Pols.
This year, the town funded the library to the tune of $1.2 million. The library is requesting $1.28 million for the next fiscal year. Eldridge is recommending a figure of $1.26 million.
Curtis Memorial Library President Kate Egan noted that the library has lent out 130 percent more items and experienced 8 percent more traffic than five years ago. Cuts to the library’s proposed increase may result in “critical staffing positions” not getting filled, said Egan.
The council did balk at Eldridge’s proposed $1,500 cut for maintaining the Mall for ice skating, with several councilors citing Mall skating as an “iconic” part of Brunswick’s culture.
Given the cuts to the schools, fire, police and other vital areas, the increase to People Plus funding was “unconscionable,” said Councilor Jane Millett.
“I just don’t see giving that one entity that kind of an increase,” she said.
People Plus’s funding was small “in the grand scheme of things,” said Pols, “but percentage-wise, it leaves the perception that we’re not necessarily fair to other departments.”
Councilor Steve Walker recommended taking funding from the Brunswick Downtown Association to offset cuts to People Plus and other areas.
Pols said that the Brunswick Downtown Association’s initial budget request didn’t increase from this year, so that organization wasn’t “on the chopping block with every other department.”
At the behest of the council, Eldridge and School Superintendent Paul Perzanoski are attempting to reduce what had been a combined 7.12 percent tax hike to a 3.5 percent increase.
A 3.5 percent increase in property taxes would mean about a $140 tax bill increase for a property assessed at $150,000. The increase would support a combined $36.7 million budget.
On Wednesday, the Brunswick school board voted 8-1 to send a revised budget back to the town councilwithalmosta0percent increase. The school district has cut around $668,500 to its proposed budget, including $88,500 in personnel.
The council will vote on the combined budget May 29. Voters will decide on the school budget alone in a June 10 referendum.
On Thursday, few people spoke during the roughly 40- minute public hearing. Among concerned citizens was Brunswick blogger Pem Schaeffer, who likened the school district’s reaction to budget cuts to a “Chicken Little mentality.”
Schaeffer said Brunswick’s spending was putting the “town on an unsustainable course … leading to a grim demographic destiny.”
Resident Hunter Johnson said his latest tax bill “stripped me down to nothing.”
“My back’s up against the wall,” Johnson said, adding that high taxes were forcing him to choose between basic items such as heating and food. “My ability to exist is in your hands.”
“If it were up to me, we’d be making deeper cuts,” said Councilor John Perreault, adding that some in town “would want to hang me” for making such a statement. “People are welcome to run in my place in a year and a half. Sometimes, like in this moment, I wish they would.”
jswinconeck@timesrecord.com
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