Sagadahoc County commissioners review FY27 draft budget as benefits, legal and IT costs rise

Sagadahoc County Finance Director and Deputy Administrator Jill Flaherty told the Board of Commissioners on March 3 that the drafts she has received to date show approximately a 6% increase from last year’s budget, though several submissions — notably the Sheriff’s Office and some public agencies — were still outstanding.

Flaherty said the Administration department is projecting a roughly 16.33% increase driven largely by legal costs. “There have been a lot of unforeseen events over the past year requiring legal assistance, and the fees are on track to reach about $120,000,” she said; by contrast, the current year had $50,000 budgeted for legal fees.

Health‑insurance costs are a second major driver. Flaherty said the county — which is self‑funded for health coverage — is facing at least a 22.4% increase in premiums in the best case and that the MCCA Risk Pool projects a 25.31% renewal increase because the county has experienced several very large claims. She noted a short‑term disability line can be discontinued for county budgeting purposes because the Maine Paid Family Medical Leave Act will cover certain absences, yielding about $13,000 in savings.

Information‑technology spending also rose in the draft. IT Director Field’s proposal would increase IT operating costs by $151,000, Flaherty said, driven by a $115,000 managed‑services contract with Harbor Digital to provide 24/7 monitoring and cybersecurity and roughly $40,000 for a new flex server for the Communications center. The IT capital line includes about $22,000 for equipment not funded last year.

Emergency Management’s draft shows a large jump that staff attributed chiefly to budgeting tower leases for the full year — about $290,000 in the current draft — and to a K9 handling stipend of roughly $18,000 that had been paid from opioid settlement funds in prior years. Flaherty said the county is also upgrading a Salamander disaster‑recovery subscription with an estimated municipal cost share of about $6,000.

Facilities capital requests fell in the draft (down about 37.59% to $163,000) largely because the roof was funded in the current year. Flaherty outlined a list of future needs — carpet, painting, foyer water‑damage repairs, parking‑lot maintenance, ADA work, cooling‑tower attention, and granite‑step repairs — and said some lines are intended as reserves for large items such as brick repointing and HVAC replacement.

Other department notes in the draft included the DA’s office absorbing a VOCA‑funded position (moving a $6,875 grant‑funded post into the base budget), an Deeds office revenue increase tied to a new fee schedule projected to yield roughly $44,000, and an expected Probate revenue decline of about $50,000 under a revised staffing model.

Commissioners discussed how to treat debt‑service savings from the jail bond and how to show those funds in the FY27 draft. August said the board has treated the roughly $600,000 in debt‑service savings as a revenue source to offset expenses; commissioners agreed to keep that in the aggregate draft for now.

Commissioner McPhee said the draft looked manageable. “It’s not bad. We’re going to get our bills paid. Or caught up. Or protected,” he said.

Flaherty noted several items remain pending while the county awaits budget templates from public agencies and the Sheriff’s Office; she also flagged that collective‑bargaining results for the Sheriff’s Office could materially change the final numbers. The board scheduled review with the Budget Advisory Committee the following Monday at 8:30 a.m., and commissioners said adjustments could be made before the budget is finalized.

What happens next: staff will continue to collect outstanding agency budgets, refine assumptions about insurance and tower lease timing, and present updated figures to the Budget Advisory Committee and to the commissioners for further action.