JAY — Selectpersons voted Monday to give the town of Livermore Falls a one-year extension to store its two fire engines and necessary equipment at Jay Fire Station No. 2.
Livermore Falls had to remove its firetrucks from its station by Oct. 1, 2015, because of structural deficiencies. Residents in June approved by a vote of 39-32 of building a $1.5 million station. Voters in Livermore Falls will decide on how to finance it at a special town meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Town Office.
The two towns entered into an agreement Sept. 30, 2015, to allow Livermore Falls to store two of its trucks and equipment at Jay’s station closest to that town.
In lieu of rental fees, Livermore Falls was responsible for paying for the fuel to heat the entire building and half of the water bill.
Livermore Falls paid a total of $3,072. Of that amount, $2,980 was for heat and $92 was for the water bill.
Everything seems to working well, Jay Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Booker said. Everybody is getting along well and there have been no serious issues, he said.
The new agreement expires Sept. 30, 2017.
In other business Monday, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere reviewed the town’s share of the Regional School Unit 73 budget for 2016-17 and the Franklin County budget.
LaFreniere was asked at the board’s previous meeting what percentage the town pays for each.
According to a spreadsheet, Jay pays 42.08 percent, or $7.96 million, of the total $18.91 million budget for RSU 73.
Livermore Falls pays 8.64 percent, or $1.63 million, and Livermore pays 10 percent, or $1.89 million.
The state contributes $6 million; other revenues, including tuition, bring in $1.39 million.
The percentage of what the towns pay locally for expenses that exceed the state’s funding formula are Jay, 69.3 percent; Livermore Falls, 14.23 percent; and Livermore, 16.47 percent.
Those percentages will shift for the 2017-18 school budget: Jay’s state valuation will be lower because of the declining valuation of the Verso Androscoggin paper mill and associated property in Jay.
Jay’s share of the $6.1 million Franklin County budget for 2016-17 is $1 million, which is about 19 percent of the county budget, according to the spreadsheet.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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