Belfast budget plan funds development, keeps tax rate stable

BELFAST – The City Council has completed its review of next year’s proposed budget that not only includes a strong economic development commitment but also keeps the city’s share of the tax rate at the same level as last year.

Included within the $7,240,316 budget are recommended appropriations of $50,000 to the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce for a full-time executive director, and $15,000 for the regional development efforts of the Bangor-based Eastern Maine Development Corp.

In concluding its budget work Thursday, the council agreed to provide $53,000 for the Waldo County YMCA and $8,000 for recreation programs at the Game Loft. The YMCA appropriation was approved by a 3-2 vote.

After deducting expected revenues, the net amount of the budget to be supported by property taxes will be $3,977,121, a figure $209,445 or 5.5 percent, higher than last year’s taxable portion of the budget of $3,767,676.

City Manager Terry St. Peter said Friday that because of increases in the city’s valuation caused by development during the past year, the municipal portion of the mill rate will remain the same as last year’s rate of $5.70 per $1,000 in valuation.

The current rate is $18 per $1,000 and includes tax commitments to Waldo County and SAD 34. Although it has yet to come before school district voters, the proposed SAD 34 budget for next year is about $2 million more than last year.

“We have no idea what the [city’s share of the] school budget is going to be,” St. Peter said.

St. Peter said the decision to make a financial commitment to the Chamber and EMDC was a step in the right direction. He said recent changes by Bank of America, including putting its vast Route 1 office complex on the market, heightened the need for the city to be more aggressive in economic development.

He said the partnership with the Chamber would enable City Hall to play a greater role in the process.

“Both the Chamber director and EMDC will attend the monthly meetings of the business development committee and I’m sure their efforts will complement each other,” he said. “I know that the business development committee will have some ideas that the Chamber executive will want to take back to his or her board. We’re hoping that this will result in some new jobs.”

Thursday’s meeting was attended by a number of supporters of the YMCA who turned out after the council indicated last week that it was considering cutting the YMCA’s request for $53,000 by more than half. Those who spoke in favor of the YMCA noted that the facility provided free after-school programs for about 150 junior high and high school students throughout the school year. The Teen Access program alone costs the YMCA more than $80,000 annually.

“The Y is a great foundation of this community,” said David Flanagan, board president. “You’re getting your money’s worth and then some.”

Local banker Larry Quinn, a member of the city’s business development committee, said the YMCA was a key selling point when marketing the community for economic development. Quinn described the recreational facility was well-managed and a major asset to the community.

“Penalizing the YMCA won’t do,” he said. “There’s no fat. We’re not padding payrolls, believe me.”

Don Hoenig, another board member, admitting being “angry” at the council for even suggesting cutting the Y’s funding request. He said that while he agreed that the city did “more than its share” to support the Y over the years, the $143 per day it was requesting was “the best deal the city of Belfast gets” for its money.

City Councilor Cathy Heberer agreed. She said the YMCA served a “vast variety” of people in the community “and it serves them in so many ways. … I think that our future is our children and we need to take care of them.”

Councilor Denis Howard said the city needed to provide services for its youth when offered the opportunity. Howard reminded his colleagues that “we do represent everybody, not just the people who pay taxes and vote.”

The council will present the budget to the community at a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 1, at City Council Chambers. The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.