AUBURN — Androscoggin County leaders are asking for a 5.9 percent spending hike, pushing the county budget over $8 million for the first time.
Yet, the total $8,278,790 proposal adds few extras in terms of new positions, facilities or equipment for the county, said Randall Greenwood, chairman of the County Commission.
“What we’ve put forth, in my opinion, is a very lean budget,” Greenwood said. “We’ve got some major cost factors. We obviously have health insurance. We have some increases with the union contract. There’s workers’ comp. Those dollars have to be accounted for.”
The three-member commission is scheduled to present the proposal to the Budget Committee following a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county courthouse at 2 Turner St. in Auburn.
It is expected to be a short presentation, Greenwood said.
Most of the increases were destined to be spent before commissioners began their work, he said.
The biggest single increase was due to a new contract signed with the union representing jail guards, deputies and dispatchers. The men and women had gone without a contract for three years. The sudden increase in their salaries represents three years of incremental change.
Dana Lee, a consultant who worked with the three-member commission and managers, helped craft the budget.
It’s a frugal document, he said.
“I went in expecting to find a fair amount more of savings than I did,” said Lee, the former town manager of Poland and Mechanic Falls. “They’ve really cut that budget down to some basic numbers.”
One of the few new spending items is just over $300,000 earmarked for new equipment for county dispatching.
Most of that money will draw from a special savings account created specifically for the needed equipment. It hasn’t been spent since leaders have yet to decide how long the county will continue to offer dispatching.
Sheriff Guy Desjardins believes the investment cannot be put off any longer.
“It’s now or never,” Desjardins said Monday. “We have to do it.”
Greenwood said the money to buy the equipment was added with the expectation that the 11-member Budget Committee will wrestle with the issue during its meetings.
“The Budget Committee may or may not go along with that,” Greenwood said.
By statute, the committee is scheduled to finish work on the budget by the end of the year. It will then go back to the commission for a final vote.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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