Houlton considers potential job cuts

HOULTON – The desire to save both jobs and money was evident at the board of budget review meeting on Monday evening, as members struggled with a proposal that would trim the budget and eliminate two jobs from the town’s parks and recreation department.

The board spent more than an hour talking about a plan to outsource maintenance for the department in the fiscal year 2006 budget, but did not make any recommendations during the meeting. Panelists said that they wanted more exact figures on how much the move would save the town before formulating an opinion on the matter.

Some members said that they felt that the town’s estimate that they could save more than $100,000 through outsourcing was too lofty.

The board is charged with reviewing the fiscal forecast and making recommendations that will then be considered by the council, which gives final approval to the budget.

At this point, two employees keep the town’s numerous parks and recreation facilities clean and maintained, and perform other related tasks. If the proposal to outsource the maintenance passes, those tasks would be taken over by a private individual or company.

If the plan goes through as designed, the two current employees would lose their jobs.

Some residents already have decried the plan, and the pros and cons were weighed liberally by the budget panel on Monday evening.

While some members speculated that officials were overestimating the savings they could realize through outsourcing, others said that they felt that the appearance of the town’s facilities would deteriorate if the plan were adopted.

Town officials began warning the public in late fall that they would have to be particularly miserly with next year’s budget.

Town Manager Douglas Hazlett said recently that the objective when drafting the preliminary budget was to maintain the current rate of 18.5 mills in 2006 and minimize impact on public safety and services. Officials also wanted to limit capital spending to only the most critical needs.

Parks and Recreation Director Bernie Reece told panelists on Monday evening that the town would probably not get the same quality of work and attention to detail from contractors as they currently get from their two employees.

Board member Nancy Ketch said that she felt that the appearance of the town’s grounds and facilities was also an economic development issue.

“People look at how things are maintained,” she said. “People who come to the recreation center or to the arena for hockey games see that.”

If the town decides not to outsource, cuts must be made in other parts of the budget to keep the mill rate static.

Board member Mitchell Holmes acknowledged that the budget that was presented to them was “pretty cut and dry” and did not allow much room for spending cuts.

“Somewhere along the line, these cuts are going to be drastic, or else it [the mill rate] is not going to be 18.5 mills,” he said on Monday evening.