Madawaska board rejects petition to cap spending Selectman will seek a legal remedy

MADAWASKA – It still was unknown Wednesday whether residents would vote on a referendum to put limits on municipal and educational spending at the annual town meeting in June.

The Madawaska Board of Selectmen on Wednesday afternoon voted 4-1 not to accept a petition that sought to keep next year’s spending at this year’s level. In effect, they said the proposal would not be voted on by residents on primary election day in June.

Selectman Daniel Ahearn, however, said he would find a notary public to issue a warrant for the referendum election. State law allows a notary public to call for the election that the petitioner seeks.

Ahearn had presented the Board of Selectmen with a petition demanding that a referendum election on limiting expenditures be held on primary election day on June 11. He claimed that the limits would then be binding on the annual town meeting held later in June 18.

Michael L. Stultz, a staff attorney with the Maine Municipal Association, told the Town Council in a telephone conference that the referendum vote would be “advisory only … and the referendum vote would have no effect on what residents would do at the town meeting.”

“Voters can vote to limit spending in the referendum, and then change their mind at the annual town meeting,” Stultz said. “The language of the petition does not say anything that is binding on the town meeting.”

“They are scared to death of what the voters will do,” Ahearn said after Wednesday’s meeting. “We’ll see what happens.”

On Tuesday night, action on Ahearn’s petition was tabled. Board of Selectmen Chairman Vernon Doucette realized that it was the consensus of the board by a 4-1 vote not to accept the petition.

“You have no choice,” Ahearn said. “You have to put this on the ballot in June.

“I have a valid petition,” he said. “You need valid legal grounds to refuse to accept this petition.”

The petition is Ahearn’s third attempt to cut expenditures or freeze the town property tax mill rate in the last two months. Selectmen refused to freeze the mill rate last month. Ahearn said he would have a petition to freeze the 2003-2004 mill rate, but was told by the Maine Municipal Association that could not be done.

Believing residents could limit expenditures for this year by a referendum vote held during the annual town meeting, Ahearn circulated a petition calling for a referendum vote prior to action on expenditures at the annual town meeting.

Selectmen Cliff Chasse called the Ahearn attempt “a regressive form of governing.” He explained that such action does not allow selectmen to use their judgment on expenditures.

“We can be frugal,” Chasse said. “We have a large number of infrastructure projects to look at, and we also have education.

“We can spend in a responsible manner,” Chasse continued. “The cap on spending does not allow for growth.”

Selectmen Michael Violette called Ahearn’s latest attempt “lawyer language” to get the tax cap that is not allowed.

“You want to tie our hands,” Violette said. “We can do this [budget] without a cap on spending.”

Ahearn wants the town meeting spending limited to “not one penny more than this past year.”

“I don’t believe the petition comes from the public; it comes from you,” Chairman Doucette alleged. “If a petition is passed around by the boss at the mill, employees will sign it.”

Ahearn, who is in his final 10 weeks on the Board of Selectmen, is an administrator at Fraser Papers Inc. He had said at a meeting last week that he could get a petition within a couple of days at the mill.

Paul Gendreau, also a Fraser employee, told the board that paper mills across the state want and need lower property taxes.

“Did you see what Domtar is asking Baileyville in this morning’s paper?” Gendreau asked, referring to a Tuesday story in the Bangor Daily News that the company had asked the Town Council to reduce its budget. “A lot of paper mills will be doing this.”

Selectmen and school committee members will meet with Fraser officials later this month at an annual meeting.

Gendreau looked instead at letting people know where the property tax money goes in Madawaska. He said selectmen control 48 percent of the money, and the rest goes to education.

The town is looking to make that known this year when tax bills are sent to residents. The bill will include a note as to how much money goes where.

After much discussion, Chasse moved to not accept the petition. Instead, selectmen agreed to table acceptance of the petition, pending legal advice.

In other business, selectmen tabled a proposal to develop a severance pay policy for nondepartment-head employees. They approved an $8,200 proposal for a sewer line extension, signed a resolution asking the Legislature to keep Workers’ Compensation costs down, and said no to the construction of an $18,000 clock, funded by matching grant money, for the lawn of the Madawaska Public Library.