BOWDOINHAM

A public hearing on the proposed 2012-13 municipal budget and June 13 town meeting warrant is scheduled to take place during the Board of Selectmen meeting today.

The meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Coombs Municipal Building.

On April 24, selectmen voted 5-0 to approve a draft 2012-13 municipal budget of $1,493,312 as proposed by Town Manager William Post and the Finance Advisory Committee.

The budget represents a $92,263 — or a 6.6 percent — increase from the 2011-12 budget. Post said of that increase, $82,840 constitutes debt service on bonds approved at the 2011 town meeting — $900,000 to cover the purchase of a new fire engine, road construction projects and purchase of a used plow truck.

The debt service would increase 67 percent under the proposed budget. Post noted a bond was paid off this last year or the $205,876 debt service budget would be an additional $11,000.

The remaining $9,423 increase is spread among different department budgets.

Within the draft budget is a 2 percent cost-of-living allowance recommended for municipal employees, a contracted salary increase for Post this year, and an increase for the planning and development director “to get her up to the market rate.” The latter will be funded, in part, through the tax increment financing budget but mostly through the planning and codes budget, Post said.

The School Administrative District 75 budget, which Bowdoinham shares with three other towns, will trigger projected increase of $104,038 (4.5 percent) for Bowdoinham.

Post’s draft budget anticipates an increase of $3,774 or 0.9 percent in Bowdoinham’s share of Sagadahoc County’s budget.

Post said the overall effect on the tax rate of municipal, school and county budgets would raise the $14.80 tax rate to an estimated $15.10 per $1,000 of assessed value — a 2 percent increase.

To help offset the increase in taxes, Post and the Finance Committee recommend taking $100,000 from the undesignated fund balance instead of the usual $25,000. If the town only takes $25,000 from the undesignated fund balance, the tax rate would be an estimated $15.43.

Post and the Finance Committee also recommend borrowing money to fund two projects.

The first involves borrowing $300,000 to $330,000, depending on paving costs, to pave two sections of Millay Road, generally from the Interstate 295 overpass to the town line with Bowdoin. Post said the work would involve grinding down current pavement, replacing culverts, ditching the sides of the road, putting gravel on the shoulders to build them up, and then repaving the road.

The draft budget also proposes borrowing $70,000 for a piece of equipment to plow and sand the sidewalks. This past winter, the town contracted out clearing and sanding of the town’s new sidewalk.

This summer the town will add approximately a mile of sidewalk, doubling what it has now. Post said the cost of borrowing the money for the equipment would be paid back within 10 years, after which the town would own the machine and expect to have it to last at least an additional 10 years.

Payments for this proposed borrowing would not need to be made until 2013-14.

In a quick overview of each municipal department budget, Post started with the administrative budget, which has a proposed increase of $8,520 (2.41 percent) essentially due to the increases in wages for the town manager, staff and associated benefits.

The town maintenance budget includes a proposed $5,000 increase to pay for painting the town hall. Post told selectmen the building hasn’t been painted for several years.

As proposed, the public works department budget will see an overall decrease of $3,374, in large part due to savings achieved by changing the department’s director position to a foreman position.

The proposed contingency line would decrease by $10,000 to $15,000 to separate contingency from the undesignated fund balance so the undesignated fund balance can be used as revenue.

The proposed solid waste and recycling budget would increase by $5,471. Post said all of that money would go toward replacing the fire alarm at the recycling barn, which will cost an estimated $6,000. Post said a recent public meeting regarding the future of the recycling barn and public works garage provided a “strong message” that townspeople want to maintain the recycling barn and either continue leasing it or purchase and repair the structure.

After the budget and warrant hearing, selectmen plan to discuss a number of other items during a business meeting.