The Brewer City Council adopted a budget for 2011 on June 1. The budget holds the current tax rate of $17.95 per $1,000 of property valuation. The council was able to maintain the tax rate despite the loss of local tax revenue from reduced property valuations including that of the city’s second-largest taxpayer, ZF Lemforder.
Despite no increase in the tax rate, Brewer property owners should be aware that their tax bills will increase by approximately $53.85 as a result of the Maine Legislature’s reducing the Homestead Exemption on residential property by $3,000.
City department heads worked diligently to present reasonable budget requests for their various operations. Although the council is sensitive to the needs of those departments, its primary responsibility is to the taxpayers, who hired us through the election process, to be prudent in allocating their tax dollars. Keeping that in mind, the council carefully evaluated the department requests and approved funding at appropriate levels for those departments to perform the important services they provide to residents.
An important item under the Capital Improvements Program section of the budget was authorization to proceed with the long overdue project of renovating our 72-year-old City Hall to bring it into compliance with provisions of the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act. It was noted that all other city buildings and Brewer schools are compliant with ADA.
In 2007, the Secretary of State’s Office evaluated voting places throughout the state for compliance with ADA requirements. Brewer City Hall was found not to be in compliance, so the secretary of state told us that we could no longer have absentee voting at City Hall. This prohibition proved inconvenient to our voters and required us to move absentee voting to the Brewer Auditorium. The fact that our City Hall is not in compliance is an inconvenience for voters, the general public and city employees.
Although this project was originally scheduled to be undertaken in 2012 or 2013, a majority of the council voted to include this item in the 2011 budget. The estimated project cost is $622,000. The city has received a grant from federal Housing and Urban Development in the amount of $322,000 for this project. The remaining $300,000 will be funded by a city bond issue. It is hoped that the city can fund this project by taking advantage of current low construction costs.
The City Hall renovation project will involve removal of the attached and now vacant library building which was built in 1965. The space resulting from this removal will be developed as a parking lot, and this will provide for a second entrance to City Hall from Union Street. An elevator will be installed to give the public access to the interior offices including City Council chambers. With the installation of the elevator, and other changes, City Hall will meet the requirements of accessibility under the ADA.
This project is important because it will give all residents and employees convenient and safe access to City Hall offices and meetings. I thank the City Council members for their support to move this important project forward for inclusion in the 2011 budget.
After the Council’s vote, Councilor Jerry Goss summed up the discussion by saying that it was the right thing to do. Isn’t that what the residents of Brewer expect of their City Council? This action will confirm that city of Brewer is in conformance with our self-designation as a Community of Caring, an Inclusive Community and an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Arthur C. Verow is chairman of the Brewer City Council.