RUMFORD — One week after voters rejected eight budget articles at the polls, the Board of Selectmen returned to the drawing board Monday evening to brainstorm new budget proposals for residents to vote on.

The eight budgets rejected at the July 23 polls were General Government, Public Safety, Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works, General Assistance, Capital Accounts and Unclassified Accounts.

The board began the meeting by looking at the Fire Department budget, which was defeated at the July 23 poll by 425 people who chose neither the selectmen’s recommendation of $625,528 nor the Finance Committee’s recommendation of $687,877. The selectmen’s recommendation of $625,528 received 284 votes and the committee recommendation of $687,877 received 358 votes.

Fire Chief Robert Chase told the board that he has been spending a lot of time “thinking about voting strategies” and how a budget could be approved without laying an officer off.

“We’ve already had to lay off one officer,” Chase said. “If you go with a lower number, we would be laying off a second one.”

Selectman Brad Adley initially recommended that the board approve $625,500, a $28 decrease from their first recommendation.

Selectman Frank DiConzo said that he disagreed with Adley’s number, adding that “it’s not a figure that’s going to get approved by the voters.”

“I’d like to see the Fire Department budget go down to $600,000,” DiConzo suggested.

Chase then proposed a $655,000 Fire Department budget, explaining that the number is a “compromise” between the selectmen’s initial recommendation of $625,528 and the Finance Committee’s recommendation of $687,877.

“I’m really trying to compromise here,” Chase said. “With this budget proposal, we wouldn’t have to lay off another officer, and we would be able to run the station with three shifts of three officers.”

Resident Mark Belanger asked the board to “consider getting the overall budget to the $6.2 million” number stated in his proposed spending cap ordinance.

“I know it’s not a legal number, but it’s a good idea to shoot for if you’re trying to be more efficient,” Belanger said.

The board subsequently voted to approve Chase’s $655,000 proposal by a 4-1 vote; DiConzo voted in opposition.

For the remainder of Monday evening’s meeting, “compromise” was the name of the game, as the Board of Selectmen voted to approve three amended budget proposals to amounts halfway between the selectmen’s and Finance Committee’s initial recommendations.

The attempt to “split the difference,” as the board explained it to residents, was due to the split recommendations on the ballot at the July 23 polls.

Since the town of Rumford splits its budget recommendations between selectmen and the Finance Committee, a minority vote for neither recommendation can decide the matter if it tops both numbers, which is what happened with the eight rejected articles.

“I think we’re the only town in the state who has this kind of format,” Town Manager Carlo Puiia said. “I’m not saying it’s bad, but three years ago, when we were working on changing initiated article language, I tried to change this language so that it said ‘in the event that a majority of the people support funding,’ which they do right now, ‘it would default to the lower amount.’ Right now, we have two ‘yes’ answers and one ‘no’ answer, which is why we’re in this predicament.”

The board voted 4-1 to approve a $738,774 Police Department budget proposal, which was $22,500 higher than the selectmen’s initial recommendation and $22,500 lower than the Finance Committee’s recommendation.

The Public Works budget proposal was approved 4-1 with a revised amount of $922,030, $47,870 higher than the selectmen’s initial recommendation and $47,880 lower than the Finance Committee’s recommendation.

The board then approved a $652,683 proposal for the Public Safety budget by a 4-1 vote, which split the difference between the selectmen and Finance Committee’s initial recommendations by $11,068.50.

The General Assistance budget proposal was reduced by $883 from $78,883 to $78,000 by a 4-1 vote. DiConzo voted in opposition, stating that he couldn’t go along with a number so high.

The board approved increasing the General Government budget proposal from $791,421 to $799,080 by a 4-1 vote, which was the Finance Committee’s recommendation.

The Capital Accounts budget proposal did not change and was re-approved for $423,000 by a 4-1 vote.

The final budget proposal of the evening was for the Unclassified Accounts. The board voted 4-1 to increase their recommendation from $1,281,400 to $1,390,700, with Board of Selectmen Chairman Greg Buccina voting in opposition.

Belanger asked the board whether they had done any analysis about how their new budget proposals would affect the town’s mill rate.

“It seems to me that you guys are just splitting the difference of your recommendations, and the Finance Committee and not looking into how it would affect the town,” Belanger said.

Belanger continued, asking,“Do you really think those who voted for the lower amounts will go for the higher amounts, and those who voted for the higher amounts will vote for the lower amounts?”

Resident Candice Casey agreed, saying that the Board of Selectmen were “going about all of this backwards.”

“You’re going at this by splitting the difference,” Casey said. “You’re hoping that all of those people who voted ‘no’ are going to vote on a higher number and meet in the middle, and I don’t think it’s reasonable.”

The Finance Committee will be required to meet again to make their recommendations, Puiia said Wednesday in an email to town officials and department managers.

A public hearing will be held no later than Aug. 22 in the auditorium and another secret poll meeting (vote) will be scheduled no later than Sept. 6.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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