Committee okays county budget

PARIS — The Oxford County Budget Committee, at its meeting Tuesday, voted to approve the 2013 budget as presented by the county commissioners, according to County Administrator Scott Cole. 

The $5.89 million budget is balanced with $1,999,288 in non-tax revenue and $3,900,040 in county taxes, according to a memo sent to the commissioners and budget committee by Cole.

In the memo Cole explains budget revenue went up $390,422 from 2012, while expenses were reduced by $60,886.

Cole notes the county's projected tax commitment also declined 3 percent from 2012, to $5,128,797.

This decline, Cole reports, can be attributed to the commissioners' proposal to utilize $360,000 in casino revenues to reduce the tax commitment.

The county receives 1 percent of the gross amount of all wagers placed at the Oxford Casino.

So far this year, Cole reported, the casino has provided the county with $11,000 per week. All funds received until this point have been deposited into a reserve account.

According to Cole's memo the commissioners sought legal advice and determined the casino money was subject to unrestricted use.

But, Cole notes, the commissioners plan on only using utilizing casino funds to make budgetary decisions when they have "actual cash-in-hand."

The budget also calls for the purchase of 10 new vehicles for the Sheriff's Department at a cost of $275,000, or $27,500 for the purchase and set-up of each vehicle.

Rather than procuring the vehicles through a lease-purchase agreement, the proposed budget includes a "self-financing" for the purchase through the casino reserve fund.

The purchase would be paid down over three years, by returning money into the account at no interest. Essentially, Cole said on Wednesday, the reserve account would be used like a bank.

Sheriff Wayne Gallant told the committee that the new purchases would allow the department to replace vehicles on a four-per-year cycle in the future. He said some department vehicles regularly average 35,000 miles a year.

The budget also includes a 2-percent pay raise for non-union employees who have worked for the county for over four years. Under county policy, employees receive small annual pay increases during their first four years, but no guaranteed raises afterward.

On Wednesday, Cole said he was very pleased with how smoothly the budget process had gone.

He said the next step in the process, enactment of the budget by the commissioners slated for December 12, would be largely symbolic, as the committee had already approved its recommendations.