Houlton council to get revised ’06 budget

HOULTON – Now that the board of budget review has finished poring over the fiscal year 2006 forecast, councilors will hear the group’s recommendations about the plan when they begin perusing the revised draft of the budget Jan. 12.

The budget board, which reviews the town’s budget each year and makes recommendations to the council, held its final meeting on Dec. 28.

Town officials began warning the public in late fall that they would have to be particularly close-fisted with this year’s budget.

Town Manager Douglas Hazlett said 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.

One of the proposals submitted by town officials as a cost-cutting strategy was a plan to outsource maintenance for the town’s parks and recreation department.

At this point, two employees keep the town’s numerous parks and recreation facilities clean and maintained, and perform other related tasks.

Under the outsourcing proposal, those tasks would be taken over by another source, such as a private individual or company. The two employees would lose their jobs.

Town officials estimated the move would save more than $100,000.

Some residents immediately decried the plan, saying they felt the appearance of the town’s facilities would deteriorate if the plan were adopted.

Others raised concerns about safety and the future of the two employees who currently hold the maintenance positions.

During a meeting last month, the budget board spent more than an hour talking about the plan, and told Hazlett they wanted more exact figures on how much the move would save the town before formulating an opinion on the matter.

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

Last week, Hazlett returned to the board with an alternative “Plan B” that would require no layoffs. Board members seemed receptive to the strategy during the recent meeting.

Councilors will begin studying the more than $7.7 million budget this at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.