Staff Writer

Standish Town Manager Gordon Billington presented a $7.2 million budget to the town council last week.

The sum represents a $920,000 increase, or 14.3 percent, over last year’s $6.2 million budget. However, the increase will be offset by an increase of $790,000 in increased revenues due to the addition of $50 million of taxable property valuation to the local tax base in the past year, Standish Town Council Chairman Lou Stack said.

 Consequentially, the mil rate on property taxes will decrease to $9.52 per $1,000 of valuation, down from last year’s figure of $9.97 per $1,000. However, Stack said he expected a significant increase in that number when the budget for Maine School Administrative District No. 6 is finalized, estimating the mil rate would increase to $10.13 per $1,000. That would mean the total tax burden for a house with a $200,000 estimated value would rise $32 from last year

 “It’s tighter this year than in other years, but I think Standish is always fairly conservative in the way it approaches the budget,” Billington said.

The most significant factor in the increase in expenditures in this year’s budget is the cost of expanding the municipal center, which calls for a $1.2 million bond issuance. The council would approve the measure by approving the proposed budget, which would then have to be approved by Standish residents in a referendum. The $1.2 million bond represents a 68.3 percent increase in expenditures on the budget for capital, Billington said.

“That’s the big driver on this year’s budget,” Billington said. “The municipal center is 8 years old, and we knew when we first moved in we would have to expand sometime soon in the future.”

Other increases include the institution of a longevity step wage increase for town employees, something the town has never had before, Billington said.

“It would mean that for every five years an employee was with us, they would receive a 3 percent raise,” Billington said.

The town is taking over control of 11 additional miles of state-owned road, which would influence the public works budget, Billington said.

“That means we need to buy a new truck and hire a new driver, with total impact being about $225,000 on the town,” Billington said.

Standish has been hurt by a reduction in state revenue sharing, he said said.

“We’ve seen a 40 percent reduction in the money we receive from the state through revenue sharing, due to a change in its formula,” Billington said.

The town will further feel the brunt of the state’s push for school district consolidation in this year’s budget, he said. The state’s extended deliberations on the school district budget process have caused a domino effect of delays, he said, and will cost Standish residents more in taxes.

“What the state decides to do with the education budget will certainly effect our overall tax rate,” Billington said. “What is happening in cutting general purpose aid to our school district will have the effect of driving up property taxes and our mil rate.”

At a Tuesday meeting, the town council agreed to add $50,000 out of the town’s surplus to offset the expectation of a higher tax burden this year, Chairman Lou Stack said.

“We wanted to get as frugal a budget as we could come away with,” Stack said.

The budget will be reviewed by the budget committee before it is sent back to the town council for final approval. Stack said he expects that vote will take place at the council’s May meeting. The final step for the budget is the Town Meeting on Saturday, June 14.