BOWDOINHAM

It took 77 voters at Bowdoinham’s annual town meeting Wednesday about 75 minutes to pass 36 warrant articles, including a 2012-13 municipal budget of $1,494,312.

This budget contains an additional $1,000 as a result of amendments made on two expense budget articles — and an overall increase of $93,263 — or 6.7 percent — over the 2011-12 budget.

Voters rejected two amendments proposed to Article 9, town maintenance to pay for painting the outside of the Town Hall, where Wednesday’s meeting was held.

Wilhelmine “Billie” Oakes proposed an additional $15,000 — the quote the town received for painting the exterior of the building. Voters rejected that proposal and Oakes’ subsequent motion to increase the article amount by $10,000.

Because there is $5,000 already in the budget and another $4,000 in a reserve account for the painting, a third motion by Dan Billings, a member of the Finance Advisory Committee, to amend the article and add an additional $6,000 passed.

During its budget review, the Finance Advisory Committee had talked about raising the difference through fundraising.

Oakes said it has been more than 10 years since the building was painted and added this year “is our 250th and as much as a number of members of the town would like to volunteer and raise the money, the time is getting short and we are raising money for many other causes, and I do think by doing it through our taxes, it spreads it out evenly as fairly as possibly over most of the people in town.”

In answer to a question about other activities the $4,000 in the reserve account could be used for at the Town Hall, Town Manager William Post said, “as everybody knows that’s in this building, there’s an endless list of repairs needed,” from interior painting to repair of the foundation to wiring, but “I felt that the exterior painting needs to be done first and foremost.”

As a result of the increase to the town maintenance article, Billings then made a motion, which passed, to offset the increase by proposing a decrease by $5,000 in Article 16, the contingency budget, in an effort to limit the projected property tax rate increase to 30 cents — from $14.80 to $15.10 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Billings noted that the contingency account is relatively new in town “so for all the town’s history beforehand, we made things work without a contingency fund. He suggested that the town can get by with the $10,000 for Article 16, which was adopted.

As voters contemplated and ultimately passed as proposed Article 5, the administrative budget, a resident expressed concern that it included a 17 percent salary increase for the town manager.

Brian Hobart, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said that the salary increase was based on Post’s performance during his first year as the town’s top administrator.

Selectwoman Kathy Gallant added, “It’s also taking into consideration the salaries for town managers in surrounding towns, and being competitive and bringing his salary up to what is still less than some other towns pay theirs. We thought it was fair.”

The resident who commented on the raise responded, “I don’t know anybody who’s getting a 17 percent raise.”

Selectman Doug Tourtelotte said when the selectmen hired Post, part of the hiring process involved an agreement that selectmen consider his work every year, “and that’s certainly the going rate for a professional town manager and we’re really lucky to have him.”

Post said he received a salary increase from $61,000 to $63,500 in January as per his contract with the town, so the increase in this article looks like 17 percent but is an increase from $63,500 (rather than $60,000) to $70,000.

The town meeting drew a 3.4 percent voter turnout.