Focused Investment in our Community
Introduction
The Town of Greenville is growing and changing rapidly. At the same time, certain pieces of infrastructure, equipment, and programs owned and operated by the Town are ending their life cycles or are in need of improvement. Major projects for this coming year include the beginning of our property revaluation; the reconstruction of runway 14-32 at the Greenville Municipal Airport; Improvements to many of our town ways; necessary improvements to the heating system of the fire station. Deferred debt service for the new municipal building comes due this year, but there was enough money left over the municipal building reserve account to both complete the building project and also provide all but $2,000 worth of the new debt service. Over the next two years, three of our debts will be paid off completely (landfill construction bond; Route 15 land purchase; Boardwalk land purchase). At the same time, new debt has been added or is proposed (municipal building project loan; road improvement bond).
This year, there is also a tax cap our municipal budget and also the school budget must each fall under or else request permission from the voters to exceed the cap. The school is bound by the Essential programs and Services (EPS) model; the town is bound by a cap which combines the annual growth in income statewide (2.58%) with our local growth factor (land splits, building construction and improvements). Our local growth factor from 2004 to 2005 is 1.18%, giving us a total allowable increase to the municipal portion of the tax commitment of 3.76%. This would result in a total of $26,809.70 for allowable growth in the tax commitment. The Selectmen and Town Manager are recommending a budget with a projected net increase of $25,724, which falls below the cap. If the budget as recommended is adopted, we project a total mil rate increase on the town side of $0.16 mils, and projected total mil rate increase (counting schools, town, county, and overlay) of $0.71 mils.
The changes in the homestead exemption help some and hurt others. The Town will compensate for the cost of 50% of the value of the $13,000 homestead exemption by reducing this amount from the total taxable value used for calculating the mil rate. This will result in the reduction of approximately $2.5 million from our total assessed value for mil rate calculation purposes, or roughly the amount we usually grow by due to new construction. Homesteaders will see variations in their change in taxes: lower-valued properties will likely see a modest savings over last year, and higher-valued properties will see a modest increase (typically less than $50 either way – see schedule of tax changes on selected valued properties). Non-homestead eligible properties will see a 4% increase in their taxes (e.g., $71 increase per year on a property valued at $100,000).
Respectfully Submitted;
John Simko
Town Manager
DEPARTMENT ACCOUNTS - EXPENDITURES
General Government – Up $39,032, or 15.92%
| Major Cost Drivers |
|
| Revaluation Reserve: |
$20,949 Increase* |
| Supplies |
$2,300 Increase |
| Wages: |
$7,885 Increase (3% increase plus some additional hours for CEO) |
| TRIO Software: |
$2,600 Increase |
| Assessing: |
$797 Increase |
| Tax Bills: |
$1,500 increase |
| Mun. Building Debt Ser.: |
$2,000 increase |
| Internet / Web Site: |
$700 Increase (switched to DSL for better service and to avoid line conflicts with FAX machine) |
| *This is the amount necessary to pay the 4/5ths of the total $95,600 cost for the revaluation in FY05-06: the last 20% payment for this service will come due next year in the FY06-07 budget. Subtracting the amount already available in our revaluation reserve account ($30,531), $45,949 needs to be raised in this year's budget to pay for this service. |
Public Safety – Up $24,572, or 6.36%
| Major Cost Drivers |
|
| Fire Department – Municipal Building Reserve / Improvements: |
$20,000 Increase |
| Police Department Salaries (3% increase; some additional constable time): |
$3,697 Increase |
| Police Cruiser Operations: |
$1,200 Increase |
Public Works – Up $10,886 decrease, or 5% reduction
| Major Cost Drivers |
|
| Sandpile: |
$5,000 |
| Wages (3% + overtime): |
$4,589 |
|
Increases are more than off-set by reducing equipment rates by 50%, lowering the amount needed to be raised for equipment use for summer and for winter roads by $9,100 and $14,000 respectively, $23,100 in total. This is a one-time cost reduction: these equipment rates will need to be restored or increased next year to continue to maintain our equipment. This reduction is an effort to use accumulated equipment account funds to save surplus and still keep taxes down (and within the tax cap). |
Health & Welfare Accounts – Up $250, or 1.36%
| Additional request from local group |
$250 |
Recreation – Up $2,485, or 4.93%
| Major Cost Drivers |
|
| Salaries up: |
$10,185 to create part-time, year round rec. director's position. |
| Facilities down: |
$6,000 for Junction Wharf Engineering |
Cemeteries & Memorials – Up $50
Airport – Up $10,234, or 23%
| Airport Projects Reserve Account: |
$8,534 inc.* |
| Airport Operation: |
$1,700 inc.** |
| *This will provide the Town with sufficient funds for the portion of the local match for the runway project which comes due in FY05-06. An additional contribution – of a lesser amount – will come due in FY06-07. In total, the Town will need $129,780 for the local match, but only $73,000 of this amount will come due in FY05-06. It is anticipated that the Town will need to raise approximately $56,780 in FY06-07 for this project. This amount will be mitigated slightly by the expected contribution by Piscataquis County. This local match will leverage over $4,800,000 in federal and state funds for this runway reconstruction project.
**It should be noted that in 2005, fees and taxes collected from airport investments and operations totaled 49% of this year's budget request. |
Sanitation / Solid Waste – Down $4,044, or 1%
| Budget drivers include: |
|
| Sewer Loan: |
$12,599 Increase* |
| Stump Dump Construction: |
$500 Increase |
| Hazardous Waste: |
$500 Increase |
| Recycling Center: |
$1,100 Increase |
| Reciprocal decreases in public works equipment use ($4,250 less) and curtailment one-time of contributions to the landfill closure reserve account ($14,000 less). These actions were taken to reduce the tax commitment and to reduce the amount of surplus used to off-set taxes this year.
*Last year, the Board of Selectmen recommended and the Town Meeting approved a one-time transfer of $12,500 from the septage waste account, which is derived from the fee charged for deposition of septage waste on the Town's land spreading site and also in our metal storage tanks. This year, the full amount of the debt service payment must be made from appropriation from taxes. |
Employee Benefits – Up $10,726, or 9.43%
| Budget increase drivers include: |
|
| Health Insurance: |
$5,932 Increase |
| Social Security: |
$1,948 Increase |
| Unemployment Ins.: |
$446 increase |
| Worker's Comp.: |
$2,000 increase |
Shaw Library – Up $1,695, or 3.21%
A detailed listing of the proposed increase for the library is attached. The Selectmen approved a budget for this account $474 less than requested in an effort to contain costs.
Unclassified Accounts – Up $955, or 3.98%
Economic Development is up by $1,400 to reflect greater activity and usage.
TOTAL NET INCREASE IN EXPENDITURES AS PROPOSED: $74,762
County Tax – Up $55,000*
*Despite this increase, due mostly to Greenville's growing state valuation, Piscataquis County commissioners reacted positively to the majority of cost-sharing and project advancement requests made by the Town of Greenville this past year (correspondence attached).
Overlay – projected to be ~$32,000, but this will be set at the time of tax commitment (typically September / October)
| DEPARTMENT ACOUNTS |
REVENUE |
| Surplus |
Down $25,000, or 41% |
| Revenue Sharing |
Down $9,611, or 5.0% |
| Vehicle Excise Taxes |
Up $45,926, or 17% (using same value as actually received last year) |
| Town Clerk Fees |
Up $500, or 4.17% |
| Lien Charges |
Flat-funded. |
| Building Permits |
Up $1,000, or 11.76% |
| Fire Department Services |
Up $10,688, or 26.80% |
| Police Department Services |
flat-funded at $3,000 |
| Airport Revenues |
up by $2,870, or 31.89% |
| Landfill Reimbursement |
Down $7,491, or 10% |
| Recycling Reimbursement |
Up $656, or 4.54% |
| Recycling Revenue (NET) |
Up $656, or 4.54% |
| Boat Excise Tax |
Flat Funded at $8,500 |
| Other (Tree Growth and Veteran's Exemption Reimbursements): |
Flat-funded at $25,800 |
| Tire / Appliance Fee: |
Up $500, or 50% |
| TOTAL REVENUES: |
Increase of $49,038 over FY04-05 |
| NET INCREASE TO TAXPAYER: |
$25,724 |
| MIL RATE IMPACT: |
$0.16 mils (4% increase) |
|