Selectmen to look into possibility of changing fiscal year

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    MILO — The fiscal year for the town of Milo currently matches the calendar, running from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 instead of from July 1 to June 30 as with the system used by many other municipalities. Over the years the idea of switching the fiscal year has been brought up, but never progressed past preliminary discussions.

    During a selectmen’s meeting on May 20, Selectman Bob Ade brought the possibility up after mentioning discussions he had on how the town of Greenville operates. Ade said the Moosehead Lake community switched to a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30 about a half dozen years ago, after several months of adjustments, and this proved advantageous with the town and school budgets being voted on by citizens at the same annual meeting.
    “We’re cutting, cutting, cutting as a town and the only thing we’re not cutting is the school,” Ade said. He mentioned the town budget is decided at the annual town meeting in March, where the selectmen are held accountable for every warrant item making up the spending plan by an audience in the Ed Wingler Auditorium at the town hall. Ade said the school system sometimes falls under the radar with less accountability, as the budget for SAD 41 (of which Milo is a member along with Atkinson, Brownville and LaGrange) is voted on at a district meeting in June and then goes out to a district-wide referendum later in the month to approve the entire spending plan with either a “yes” or “no” vote.
    Select Chair Lee McMannus said he also would favor having matching fiscal years for Milo and SAD 41. He explained that Milo officials are not 100 percent down on schools, saying there are teachers and principals as frustrated with some of the same things as the board and “you also have to understand what’s thrust upon the school because of the demographics of this town.” He added, “We just want to see changes that are better for the town and the school.”
    Ade said he would conduct some more research on the possibility of a fiscal year change for Milo, with another discussion scheduled for the June 17 meeting. “Everyone’s got to see the bigger picture, it’s about the students, it’s about the kids,” he said.
    In other business, per a request Town Manager David Maynard presented the board with a copies of previous guidelines for properties at a previous incarnation of what today is the Eastern Piscataquis Business Park. “What I would like the board to do is between now and the next meeting is look at this and really think if there is anything missing that needs to be in there,” he said.
    Maynard said having fewer requirements for the business park can provide for greater flexibility in potential tenants, but the additional information may include something not previously thought of.
    Town officials also met with Bobby Ellison of the Three Rivers Kiwanis, who mentioned fish have been dying in Harris Pond due to a lack of oxygen. Ellison said a windmill and attached tubes should be able to remedy the problem.
    “The windmill is the thing, I think it will make a big difference,” Ellison said. He added that where the windmill would be placed on town property, the Kiwanis wanted to have permission granted before placing the small structure by the pond. One other possibility mentioned would be for the town to put a few feet of fencing around the windmill.