Dexter council approves $6.7M budget

DEXTER — The Dexter Town Council gave its approval to a $6,765,114 municipal budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year during a July 8 meeting. 

This gross figure, which in addition to nearly $4,480,000 in town operations, includes $360,285 for the community’s portion of the Penobscot County tax and about $1.9 million for the SAD 46 budget, and is up by $703,613 from the year before.

Town Manager Trampas King thanked the council and department heads for their efforts in developing the spending plan. “It’s a long process, it takes about two months meeting twice a week,” he said. “It’s a good budget. I’m happy with it.”

The $6.7 million-plus will be partially offset by $1,553,682  in revenues, an amount up by $656,889 from 2020-21.

The net budget is $4,554,543, a $46,724 increase.

“It’s quite a process as it always is,” Council Chairman Marica Delaware said, “but I feel good about it, it’s getting a lot done without raising taxes.” She said every line of the budget was looked at very closely.

The council set the 2021-22 mill rate at $19.60, the same as the year before as well as for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Councilors also set Oct. 15 as the due date for this year’s property taxes, with the interest rate for the outstanding balance paid after the date to be 6 percent per annum.

In other business, town officials learned more about a forthcoming disc golf course near the Dexter Municipal Golf Course. 

Resident George Peterson has been working on the site at the town recreation trails between the golf course and Bud Ellms Field. Peterson said he has put in 13 holes so far with the course to have 18.

“I would say within a week’s time I could get it ready for just play,” he said, with more trail work to take place after disc golfers could start. The trails could be used for snowshoeing and cross country skiing in winter months.

Peterson said his son is an avid disc golfer and the two played in Orrington. “Even though I’ve done it just once, the kids said it’s a lot of fun,” Peterson said.

“It seems like there’s only courses in southern Maine and my mindset is to have a nice course here. I want to make it like a state park,” he said. “It’s a fun sport, it’s a good outdoor recreation because you’re outside, you’re walking.”

King said he would work on a formal lease for the disc golf course on the town trails.

During open session, Councilor David Palmer said he has been traveling around town the last few days and meeting some of the volunteers taking part in the Group Mission Trips workcamp.

 “I think it should be noted and passed on how friendly the kids are, they’re smiling and have good attitudes,” he said.

For the second time in three years, volunteers from around the country spent nearly a week in and around Dexter from July 5 to 9 working on 13 home projects at no cost for residents who otherwise could not afford to have the needed repairs taken care of. The improvements carried out by about 80 teenagers and adults were made through Fort Collins, Colorado-based Group Mission Trips, a non-profit, interdenominational Christian volunteer home-repair group. 

The local work camp was sponsored by the town of Dexter and First Baptist Church with assistance provided by a number of businesses and organizations.