By Cliff White 

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 $790,000 raised from additional of non real-estate tax revenue, including proceeds from a Capital Improvement bon approved last year and emergency services billing, 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 additional increase to the school tax rate would go up to $10.13. That would mean the total tax burden for a house with a $200,000 estimated value would rise $152 from last year, Stack said.

“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.

Besides the school district budget, 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 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.

“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, 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.