South Thomaston budget committee preliminarily approves department budgets, flags school-funding risk to mill rate

Walter was elected chair of the town’s budget committee and the joint Select Board–Budget Committee gave preliminary approval to most departmental budget lines after a detailed review on staffing, capital needs and revenue assumptions.

The meeting, opened by the Select Board chair, centered on personnel costs driven by a 2.5% across-the-board cost-of-living adjustment staff applied to wages and benefits. Finance staff said those COLA calculations follow the same historic formula used for Social Security and military pay. Jeff, who led the budget overview, told the committee that most increases are “a direct result of the 2.5% increase” and outlined exceptions where department heads adjusted lines to balance workloads.

Why it matters: committee members stressed that the town’s mill rate depends heavily on the school budget and on uncertain grant and excise-tax receipts. Staff noted LD1 (a prior state growth-guideline construct) is no longer provided in the same form and that staff used a 4% projection for some state and school-related revenues; committee members called that an uncertain assumption that could shift the town’s final tax rate.

Key votes and decisions: the committee voted voice approval to preliminarily adopt the administration, assessor, roads, planning and street-light budgets and to fund an immediate generator replacement from reserves while planning to replenish that reserve. Where the transcript did not record a roll-call tally, the minutes show voice votes or unanimous preliminary approval without named tallies. Actions recorded in the meeting included a motion to enter executive session later in the agenda under MRSA §405(6)(E) to confer with counsel; that motion carried.

Staff and capital notes: the committee discussed using reserve funds to temporarily finance the new fire truck and then replenish reserves over time to reduce interest expense. Members also discussed a planned town revaluation (reval) with a contract to begin work this summer and split costs across two budget years ahead of the April 2027 commitment.

What remains unresolved: committee members repeatedly cautioned that the school budget — which constitutes the largest share of the tax rate — remains volatile. Multiple grant lines shown as anticipated or “in red” were unconfirmed at the time of the meeting, and the committee left several assumptions conservative to avoid depleting surplus beyond roughly the proposed $66,000 draw.

Next steps: the committee will reconvene for the formal vote at the upcoming commitment meeting, when members expect clearer figures for school spending and final revenue confirmations.