PARIS — Members of the county Budget Committee trimmed more than $64,000 from the 2014 budget, dropping the proposed property tax levy to its lowest amount since 2011.
Following more than two hours of deliberation in a meeting at the Oxford County Commission room Tuesday, the nine-member committee unanimously adopted $6,172,296 in expenditures, compared to the $6,236,463 proposed by commissioners last month.
Even though the budget is still almost $273,000 more than last year, the amount of taxes to be collected from Oxford County is $5,170,554, a savings of more than $36,800 from last year’s taxes.
The committee only made amendments to the sheriff’s budget. In a 5-3 vote, members decided to write off a $91,667 payment the department was scheduled to make to the county’s casino reserve.
Last year, commissioners approved using $275,000 from the casino account to finance the purchase of 10 cruisers for the Sheriff’s Office, with the understanding that the money would be paid back to the reserve fund over three years.
During budget deliberations last month, commission Chairman David Duguay and Commissioners Steven Merrill and Caldwell Jackson debated writing off the debt altogether, arguing that the cost to the taxpayer was essentially even.
The majority of committee members had the same perspective during their meeting Tuesday. Committee member Floyd Thayer of Oxford called using property taxes to repay the casino reserve “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
He, along with other members, argued that it would be cleaner to forgive the debt and move forward with a clean slate. Others disagreed, including Committee member Russell Newcomb of Norway, who argued that following through with the repayment was a more transparent accounting method for the transaction.
Committee member Lee Holman of Hartford noted that property owners wanted to see their tax bills stay flat or go down — how it happened wasn’t important.
“Ultimately, the taxpayer isn’t going to be concerned if the $91,000 was taken out to defray taxes or to buy cruisers … all they’re going to care about is the bottom line,” Holman said.
The committee also reinstated $27,000 to the sheriff’s budget to fund the purchase of five new cruisers for the department.
Sheriff Wayne Gallant told committee members the cruisers bought last year were intended to kick-start a replacement program that would allow the department to cycle out five vehicles each year.
A law enforcement vehicle is usually only driven for 150,000 miles, then traded in, Gallant said.
In an effort to limit the county’s expenditures, the commissioners decided to cut one of the vehicles, Duguay said.
Committee members, however, argued that the Sheriff’s Office should keep the replacement program intact, especially in its early stages, to prevent the need to purchase more than five vehicles next year. The majority of committee members voted to add the fifth vehicle. The motion was opposed by Newcomb and Thayer.
Commissioners are expected to enact the 2014 budget at their meeting at the Oxford County courthouse on Dec. 10.
pmcguire@sunjournal.com
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