Sumner's taxes could go up 11 percent

SUMNER —  The average tax bill on $100,000 assessed value in Sumner could go up by $182, an 11-percent increase, in the next fiscal year if Governor Paul LePage's proposed 2014-2015 state budget is passed, said Town Clerk Susan Runes at the February 12 selectboard meeting. 

Runes told selectboard members she is developing next year's town budget based on prior years.

The proposed budget includes a 3-percent increase in transfer station funding and a 5-percent increase in the school budget.

Revenue sharing and the homestead property tax exemption would be excluded altogether if LePage's budget passed, Runes said.

The numbers were "what if" examples, Runes confirmed in an e-mail last Thursday. 

If passed, the budget would generate a mil rate increase of $1.88 and an overlay of 1 percent, Runes said. The town's current mil rate is $15.70 per $1,000 valuation. The increase would bring the mil rate up to $17.58, Runes said. 

"It could be horrid," Runes said of Sumner's budget, if the state budget is passed. "I think we need to flatten it out a bit more." 

Needs

Runes said in determining next year's budget, the town also needs to consider what it can't live without, like salaries, for example. 

The amended budget would include paying for an interim administrative assistant to train under current Administrative Assistant Cynthia Norton for three months as she prepares for retirement, Runes said.

"Depending on where it [training] is," Runes said, "is it more cost-efficient for the town to just pay for an overnight than four round trips of mileage?" 

Norton suggested perhaps hiring John E. O'Donnell Associates to undertake the town's assessing duties. She figured it could save both time and money in training her replacement. 

It may not be easy to find a replacement that has prior experience in assessments, Runes said, which Norton has spent a great deal of her time doing as administrative assistant. 

"It's time consuming," Norton said. 

Runes said reducing hours for the administrative assistant position may require them to work only one-and-a-half days at seven hours per day, 28 hours a month. At $13 an hour, that would equal $4,368 for the year, Runes said. 

Norton said, however, "you can't cut salaries. We need people in the office ... You can't start cutting people's livelihoods and stipends."

Cutting back 

"I ask that we all be thinking about what kinds of things we can do without, if we are going to try to maintain a reasonable mil rate, if we are losing revenue sharing and homestead exemption," Runes said, referring to the potential impact of the Governor's proposed budget. 

"And possibly excise tax on commercial vehicles," added Norton. "Which, for Sumner, is not a huge amount," Runes said. 

According to Runes, in January, the number of motor vehicle registrations and excise tax collection were high. Excise tax has increased by 41 percent over last year, she said. 

Sumner's Chairwoman Mary Ann Haxton reported the town held a "Breakfast with the Board" on January 26, where discussion was centered around the budget, including what services the town could do without in order to save money. 

The meeting also focused on the "continuous upsurge in the cost of schooling," Haxton said, and what the town's options are to save in its share of the funding. 

According to Runes, the RSU 10 budget is currently "at a standstill," as it awaits the decision on the state budget.  

Selectwoman Kelly Stewart suggested the selectboard invite its RSU 10 school board representative to its next meeting, February 26, so the board can air its concerns and start finding a solution to the budget.