Warrant signed for Dover-Foxcroft annual town meeting

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 22, Dover-Foxcroft residents will assemble in the Morton Avenue Municipal Building gymnasium for the 2023 annual town meeting. Citizens will have seven articles to vote on as the warrant was formally signed by the select board during a meeting Monday evening.

That morning, attendees will vote on six financial articles making up the town meeting warrant, together equaling a proposed 2023-24 municipal budget totaling $6,859,775. This figure is up by $319,750 (4.89 percent) from the current fiscal year’s $6.5 million-plus figure.

After applying $3,774,920 in non-tax revenues, the net amount to be raised via property taxes is $3,084,855. The near $3.8 million revenue figure is up by $134,392 (3.69 percent) from 2022-23, and the net amount to be raised represents a $185,358 increase (6.37 percent) compared to the current figure.

The spending plan approved at the April 22 town meeting will then be moved to a referendum vote on Tuesday, June 13 for final approval. On the ballot Dover-Foxcroft residents will also vote on the RSU 68 budget, along with citizens of the fellow district communities of Charleston, Monson, and Sebec.

Detailed 2023-24 budget information can be found on the town website at www.dover-foxcroft.org. The town meeting warrant will be posted prior to April 22.

In other business, town officials met with Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Glenburn. The veteran lawmaker now represents Senate District 4, made up of Piscataquis County and a portion of Penobscot County, with her hometown of Glenburn being redistricted into the region.

“We’ve been very busy at the Legislature, over 2,500 bill requests and so far we’ve heard 1,609,” Guerin said. She mentioned that with so many pieces of legislation submitted, some bills do not get the proper time.

Guerin said a bigger issue may be that legislators feel there are 2,500-plus problems to be solved through all the bills.

Policy issues she is working on in committees down in Augusta include increasing access to affordable childcare and child safety, both with the Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective Services and in schools.

Education reforms in Augusta include enabling parents to be heard and welfare reform would help fill vacant jobs in the state, Guerin said. She said measures would tighten up unemployment so those accessing these benefits are doing so fairly.

Guerin is working on a pair of telehealth bills to make health care access easier in rural areas such as Piscataquis County.

In his report Town Manager Jack Clukey said, “We’ve become aware of an opportunity to sign on for federal funding the state is signing on to.”

Through a Congressionally Directed Spending process Dover-Foxcroft has signed onto a statewide funding request to incentivize municipal projects to improve energy efficiency, reduce fossil fuel consumption and promote solar energy. The funding status would likely be determined this fall. 

“There’s an abundance of federal funds making their way through the pipeline and making their way through the state,” Clukey said. He said the Maine Department of Transportation is submitting a grant application for level 2 recharging stations in priority areas statewide. 

Clukey will be getting information later in the week on how Dover-Foxcroft might be eligible for this funding, the application process, etc.