Select Board reviews proposed 2025–26 budget as state revenue sharing falls in estimates

Town Manager Cameron presented the proposed Town of Buckfield municipal budget for fiscal year 2025–26 at the March 11 Select Board meeting and described the principal drivers: wage adjustments, proposed health insurance cost-share changes, rising solid-waste fees and a projected drop in state municipal revenue sharing that staff estimated at about $100,000 compared with the prior year.

Cameron said the proposed municipal expense budget represented “an 8.9% increase over last year before accounting for revenues,” noting the proposal included a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for administration, public works, solid waste and library employees and a health-insurance structure change intended to make town benefits more competitive for recruiting and retention.

The board spent substantial time on roads and public works. Staff reaffirmed the long-standing paving figure in the draft — approximately $470,000 — explaining that amount had allowed the town in recent years to repave roughly 1.5 to 2 miles annually. Board members said residents want roads fixed, but the town must weigh the tax impact of accelerating road work. Cameron outlined equipment maintenance needs and the age of the public-works fleet and urged a preventive-maintenance approach to avoid larger future purchases.

Public-safety funding and ambulance/replacement planning were debated at length. The rescue/ambulance vehicle is aging, and staff described options including remounting a chassis, buying a remounted apparatus, borrowing, or building a cash reserve. Board members discussed setting aside an annual reserve (one suggestion: $5,000 per year) and possible modest adjustments to wage increases for firefighters/rescue personnel (a proposed 25-cent-per-hour reduction in the proposed increase was calculated as a possible way to free roughly $5,000 for capital saving). Cameron said the town needs to plan now to avoid a large one-year shock when apparatus replacement becomes unavoidable.

Solid-waste and transfer-station costs were highlighted as another pressure point. The town participates in a regional arrangement with Sumner; recent fee changes by Maine Waste to Energy and other disposal-price increases pushed the municipal solid-waste budget up in the draft. Cameron said the transfer-station budget line has shown overruns in recent years and that staff attempted to estimate realistic costs for 2025–26.

Revenue assumptions in the draft were conservative. Cameron said he set projected municipal revenue sharing down from the prior figure — reflecting preliminary state estimates — and that school and county assessments were tentatively estimated at a 5% increase pending final numbers from those bodies.

Board members discussed a menu of tradeoffs — modest wage adjustments, carving small amounts from some lines, or using reserves or targeted warrant articles to pay down debt — and agreed to continue budget workshops and post materials on the town website for public review.