St. John voters approve spending

ST. JOHN PLANTATION – Six municipal positions were filled Thursday by residents at the polls, and nearly $52,000 in expenditures was approved Friday night at the annual town meeting.

Joella McBreairty was elected first selectman over incumbent Patrick J. Nadeau by a vote of 52-36. Nadeau served one term as first selectman, but was third selectman for five years before that.

Levite Ouellette kept his seat as third selectman by defeating Lisa Morine 60-26. Norman Marquis was elected second selectman, running unopposed.

Also unopposed was Joyce Martin for her 23rd one-year term as town clerk, treasurer and tax collector.

All municipal positions are one-year terms.

Paul Grant was moderator at the 40-minute town meeting, during which 28 residents approved $23,400 for municipal salaries, to be paid from excise taxes.

Residents approved all expenditures as they were recommended by the Board of Selectmen.

The remainder of appropriations, to be paid from property taxes, includes all expenditures except for the town’s share of SAD 27 expenditures and the town’s share of the Aroostook County budget.

Residents also approved using $35,000 of excise taxes to reduce the tax commitment.

Martin said Monday that the town’s tax commitment will not be known until the cost of education and the county tax is known to the town. The SAD 27 budget is usually held in June.

Last year, education cost the town $138,422, and the county tax was $13,987.

For fiscal year 2003, the town’s tax rate was 14 mills, or $14 per $1,000 dollars in valuation, on a total town valuation of $9,844,855.

Irving Woodlands pays nearly 43 percent, or $45,346, of the plantation’s tax commitment.

The plantation’s largest expenditure, except for salaries and education, is solid waste disposal at a cost of $18,000 this year.