Abbot voters face 44-article warrant and slight increase in budget
By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
ABBOT — Voters in Abbot will gather at the town hall on Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. to consider a 44-article, $372,814 municipal budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The gross budget, excluding county and school taxes, is up slightly from last year’s $358,270, according to First Selectman Mickey Knowles. This includes $133,500 taken from unexpended revenue compared to $126,000 last year.
One reason for the increase is a $4,500 hike in county taxes this year, and town officials also anticipate that Abbot’s share of the School Administrative District 4 budget will rise. The town paid $673,143 to SAD 4 in 2014.
At a recent selectmen’s meeting, Knowles said that the town has cut $106,000 from its budget during the past two years in order to minimize increases in property taxes. Abbot’s current mil rate is $12.90 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Knowles, Town Clerk Lorraine Leeman and Treasurer Heather Weymouth Pomerleau are all running for reelection. Voters will also select an SAD 4 director to fill out the unexpired term of Bruce Priest who passed away on Feb. 24. Priest’s term expires in March 2017.
Abbot, with a population of just over 700, doesn’t have a town manager. Instead, the first selectman is the town’s chief administrator drawing a salary of $19,360 per year. The other two selectmen make $4,000 each.
Major articles on the warrant include $14,000 to the town of Guilford for fire protection, $107,500 from undesignated funds and $22,000 from taxation for winter road maintenance; $35,000 from taxation and $27,228 from the Maine Rural Road Initiative for the town road improvement account; and $20,000 from taxation and an equal amount from undesignated funds for the transfer station and recycling program.
This year’s Abbot town report is dedicated to Bob Kallgren, who passed away on Oct. 4, 2014. He served as selectmen for 25 years and was a former president and active member of the Big Pine Riders Snowmobile Club.