Voters OK $1,076,000 budget for 2004-2005 Winter Harbor allots $500,000 for sidewalks

WINTER HARBOR – Voters at the local annual town meeting Wednesday night approved a proposal to borrow $500,000 for improving sidewalks in the town’s village and an overall budget of $1,076,000, according to a town official.

Roger Barto, Winter Harbor’s town manager, said Thursday that 54 people attended the annual town meeting, which lasted 45 minutes.

All items on the meeting warrant passed as proposed except for one, according to Barto.

“The item on accepting Meadow Lane [as a town road] was tabled to find out the legal issues involved in it,” the town manager said.

With approval of the $1,076,000 budget for 2004-2005, which represents an increase of $3,000 over the current yearly budget, the town is expected to raise $812,000 in property taxes, according to Barto.

Despite the modest budget increase, taxes are projected to decrease by roughly $48,000 because of increased revenues, he said.

Barto predicted the town’s tax rate will be $13 or less for each $1,000 of a property’s value.

Included in the overall budget figure is $488,000 that is projected to go toward school costs. Voters approved spending $50,000 of Winter Harbor’s education reserve account in order to limit the effect of school expenses on local property taxes.

The sidewalk project, which Barto said will be broken down into three phases, will include construction or reconstruction of sidewalks on Beach, Harbor, Main and Newman streets.

The first phase will be done in coordination with state plans in 2005 to add shoulders to Route 186, with reconstruction of some sections of the road, between South Gouldsboro and Birch Harbor, he said.

To supplement the $500,000 bond, local officials hope to receive grant money to cover the $975,000 projected overall cost of the sidewalk project, according to Barto.

The loans will be repaid, hopefully in their entirety, with revenues from selling housing units the town inherited from the Navy, he said.