Brownville meeting set for March 16

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    BROWNVILLE — A week and half prior to the 2015 annual town meeting — scheduled for Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. at Brownville Elementary — town officials held a public information meeting at the BJHS Alumni Hall on March 5 to provide citizens with an explanation on how the 2015-16 budget was developed and for those in attendance to ask questions on the process.

    Town Manager Matthew Pineo prepared a slide show, which he called “Town Budgeting 101”, for the meeting, which he said shows “how your tax dollars are spent locally.” Pineo added where this money goes is “the first thing people want to know.”
    Tax funds are used to finance the town as well as making up portions of the budget for Penquis Solid Waste, the Piscataquis County government and SAD 41. “For those last three we don’t have any choice,” Pineo said about Brownville’s contributions, other than having town representation on the governing bodies.
    “The school budget comes up for referendum and that allows you as people to speak on the school budget,” he said, noting last spring Brownville residents voted down the SAD 41 2014-15 spending plan.
    Explaining how the town budget is constructed, Pineo said local government provides services mandated by the state and services citizens’ requests to improve their community’s quality of life. He said the proposed budget for the 2016 fiscal year totals approximately $1,642,000 between the town, solid waste, county and school.
    Pineo mentioned the municipality receives revenues from a number of sources in addition to property taxes, such as excise taxes, contracts and grants. He said in the last four years the valuation of Brownville has fluctuated between $54 million and $59 million, while the town budget has stayed within a range of $5,000 to $7,000 in this same timeframe.
    The various expenses and revenues and valuation leads to a mil rate, the amount of money paid for every $1,000 in assessed property. Pineo said the current mil rate, which is set by the board of selectmen, is $18.90 for every $1,000.
    He said there are many state-mandated expenses for Maine municipalities — a list on hand of these mandates totaled 36 pages which like the school and county taxes “we cannot opt out of paying.” All of these expenses are factored into determining the mil rate.
    “Who decides how the money is spent? Mostly you do,” Pineo told the audience. He explained citizens elect their selectmen, who make recommendations on a proposed spending plan as does the budget committee. The recommendations are included on the warrant articles as “for each taxpayers can approve or disapprove them by vote at the annual town meeting,” Pineo said.
    The town report and warrant articles are available at the town office, and Pineo said these can also be emailed in PDF form.
    Near the end of his presentation, Pineo said the role of the taxpayer is to be involved, informed and interested and this can be done by asking questions of the elected officials and attending the select meetings. Citizens can always call him at any time.
    “That’s what I’m here for,” he said. “I enjoy engaging and hearing from the public what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong.”
    Pineo added, “We are here to help the citizens, that’s our purpose to serve the people the most cost effective way we can.”
    During a comment session after the presentation, budget committee chair Terry Knowles said he has been on the committee for about a decade and when he started, “I went in there thinking what you’re all thinking ‘there’s fat in there,’” in terms of potential reductions to the town spending plan.
    Saying other budget committee members likely felt the same when they began, Knowles said there may be some small cuts early on but “when you get down to boiling the numbers it gets real difficult.”
    Pineo mentioned how proposals have been made in Augusta to reduce or eliminate the state’s revenue-sharing programs. He said the finances should be set for this next budget, but he and others are looking at all the possibilities for the ensuing year. Pineo said he wants to help citizens be able to stay in their homes while also keeping the town running.