$3.3M budget to go before voters

WATERFORD — Voters will decide a $3,339,756 overall 2013 budget at the annual town meeting March 2.

The budget, which includes next year's estimated payments to SAD 17, is $216,391 larger than 2012.

Among the 73 articles on the warrant include a resolution opposing tar sands oil through the town, changes to the road commissioner position and nightly closures of the town's Hawk Mountain trail.

Residents will vote March 1 for positions on the board of selectmen and SAD 17 school board.

Selectman Wyatt Andrews is running unopposed to keep his seat and Judith Green is running unopposed to replace Bill Hanger on the SAD 17 board.

The school budget makes up an estimated $1,870,974 of the 2013 budget, according to a financial analysis in the annual town report. That figure may be a moving target, however, as the SAD 17 budget has not yet been finalized.

The budget also includes a $32,388 increase built into the budget to overcome a school payment shortfall in last year's budget.

The budget increase is set to increase the town's mil rate by $1.56, to $14.56 per $1,000 in property valuation.

The exact mil rate is still undetermined and will be subject to the effects of the state and school district budgets. In the annual town report, municipal officials suggest it could, in the worst-case scenario, be $15 per $1,000 in valuation.

Municipal expenses are expected to be $1,251,574, a $16,564 increase from last year's budget.

According to the selectmen, a larger paving budget is driving the increase.

A complete resurfacing cycle on Waterford's 40 miles of paved roads would cost approximately $2 million and take about 13 years at a capital funding rate of $150,000 per year, nearly twice the norm, according to the selectmen.

The board hoped to increase the capital improvement funding to $200,000, but shrank that goal in the face of a school budget increase.

Uncertainty in the state budget could also play havoc with town finances, the selectmen warn.

A suspension of revenue sharing and limitations on the homestead property tax exemption called for in Governor Paul LePage's proposed biennial budget could increase the mil rate by $0.25 alone.

In an effort to prevent mil rate increases and prioritize spending, two new articles that require selectboard approval for purchases more than $1,000 and competitive bidding for those more than $5,000 are included on the warrant.

Additional articles include authorizing changing the road commissioner position, from elected to appointed, posting nightly closure of the Hawk Mountain trail, approval of a watershed survey on Bear Pond and a resolution opposing reversing the flow of the Portland-Montreal oil pipeline.

Town meeting will be held Saturday, March 2, at 9 a.m., at the Waterford Town Office.

Voting for selectboard and SAD 17 director will be held March 1 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.