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Bucksport councilors unanimously approved the town’s next budget at a quiet meeting Thursday, closing out months of tough discussions about ways to cut back costs for taxpayers this year.
A 3.8% increase in municipal spending, now $5.8 million, combined with school and county increases total a $12.25 million overall budget, up 5.7%.
Councilors have said they tried to find structural cuts that would reduce costs for the long term, and plan to look at more reductions next year.
“It was a hard one this year, but I think we’ve made great progress in setting ourselves up for success in the future,” Councilor Ed Rankin said after the vote, thanking town staff for the budget season and process.
The last two years have marked a change for Bucksport, which for years had been cushioned by millions saved to prepare for the closure of its largest taxpayer, the Verso paper mill.
The town continued to invest in services as part of efforts to attract new economic activity and avoid a downward spiral after losing the mill in 2014, which residents generally viewed as successful. But last year, an audit showed Bucksport had spent down most of those savings, partly to deflate property taxes in recent years.
Property bills jumped sharply for many residents that summer, helping to prompt what numerous officials called difficult conversations this budget season.
The town was further crunched by an increase in its state valuation, which reduced revenue sharing, and a correction of past financial practices that had obscured the full extent of spending for years, according to Jacob Gran, who became Bucksport’s manager last summer.
Councilors cut about $415,000 in expenses this year. Bucksport has reduced its expenses by more than $1 million over the last two years, Councilor Jennifer Therrien said Thursday.
Reductions include phasing out two seasonal positions and not rehiring for a retirement in the highway department, cutting internal spending, closing the town-funded fitness center at the local YMCA and reducing the funding the town typically provides to support community and social agencies. The town also stopped accepting commercial waste at its transfer station and started a sticker program there.
This year’s budget also sends about $240,000 to Bucksport’s undesignated fund balance, or money not committed to specific uses, to help it rebuild its savings over the next five years until it has 60 days’ worth of cash on hand.
Gran said earlier this year that the town’s financial health is improving.
The estimated new mill rate is $16.38, up from $15.50.
Bucksport’s contribution to Hancock County’s budget went up 19% this year, an increase some councilors have said they have a hard time accepting as a fair deal, especially because the town has its own police, animal control and emergency dispatch services. The area’s public school district also sought budget reductions this year, Councilor Paul Rabs noted.
Commissioner John Wombacher appeared at Thursday’s meeting and said he would bring those concerns back for discussion.
