WINDHAM – Budget season is well under way in Windham.

Several weeks ago, the RSU 14 school superintendent released his projected budget, which included a 3.1 percent increase, and last week, the Windham town manager released his proposed budget, which calls for an overall 3.8 percent municipal budget increase, from $3.99 per thousand of property valuation to $4.14.

If the council makes no changes to the manager’s proposed budget, property taxpayers would see an increase in the tax rate of 15 cents. Using 2011 tax figures, which don’t factor in school or county tax hikes, the municipal tax on a $200,000 home would increase $30 to $2,458.

The common links between Windham’s town and school budgets are a 2 percent salary increase for most employees and a projected loss in state funding, which means local property taxpayers have to make up the difference.

Town Manager Tony Plante’s $14.19 million budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 will head to the Windham Town Council Tuesday night. The council is expected to vote to refer it to the three-member Finance Committee (made up of town councilors) for initial review and recommendations. The budget then goes back to the full council for a vote. Town residents get the final say at the annual town meeting in June.

Finance Committee member Matt Noel said of Plante’s budget, “In general I think the town manager has done a very good job pulling together a budget. It is a very difficult and time-consuming task, which under the current economic times can present more challenges than in times of economic prosperity. I appreciate the time and effort he and his staff have spent on the budget and commend him for his thoughtfulness and care he took creating this budget. I look forward to hearing from him when he presents the budget to the council and I look forward to speaking with him and his staff when they present additional details of the budget to the finance committee.”

Budget highlights

In addition to the salary increases and loss of state funding, major cost drivers in the new budget consist of added emphasis on municipal buildings and road maintenance, creating a highway maintenance supervisor position to assist the public works director, and re-establishing the code enforcement director’s position.

“Facilities and infrastructure issues continue to be significant challenges for the town,” said Plante, who proposes to increase the road improvement budget – which includes such expenses as culverts and ditching as well as repaving – about 65 percent to $650,000. Plante added that the amount would rise $100,000 to $750,000 in 2013 and $850,000 in 2014 to take care of local roads.

“Are we keeping up with road repairs? The short answer is no,” Plante said.

“I want to echo Tony’s recommendation as it relates to our funding for our roads,” Noel said. “I believe we must make the maintenance of our roads a priority. The most recent Pavement Condition Survey clearly indicates that our road condition is deteriorating in nearly every category since the last assessment three years ago. I believe this is a clear statement that our road funding is not meeting the demands we are putting on them.”

Noel said over the last 10 years or so, local spending on road maintenance has been flat or declining.

“We are and have been severely under funding our roads for far too long,” Noel added. “In fact based on the most recent survey, we have been under funding our town roads by nearly $500,000 per year and the state has been under funding state roads within Windham by approximately $250,000 per year. I realize the town cannot realistically demand more money from the state, but we can make choices on how our local dollars are spent. If we continue to choose not to appropriate adequate funding to our roads, the condition will continue to deteriorate.”

Other road-related budget increases include hiring a supervisor of highway maintenance. The position would free up the public works director to manage the department, attend meetings, and do long-range planning, something Plante said isn’t getting done now due to time demands.

Plante also proposes a 25 percent increase in the building maintenance budget, to $125,000, to handle needed repairs and upgrades, including replacement of windows at the public library, brickwork and paving work at the Windham Public Safety Building, installation of a new gate at public works and a new boiler at South Windham Fire Station.

“We’re trying to take care of our buildings,” Plante said. “They are showing signs of deterioration and we don’t want to let that go too far.”

Another driver of the increase lies in the operating budget, which is seeing a 0.9 percent hike due to increased energy costs and the lifting of a two-year wage freeze for non-union employees. The 2 percent cost-of-living increase would include most employees at town hall as well as public works and public safety administrators.

The budget also calls for the replacement of the code enforcement director’s position. That position was vacated when the former director, Roger Timmons, retired last May. The department lost another code officer this past year and is currently operating with one officer.

Revenues

Another factor in the increased budget for 2012 is Plante’s prediction of future revenues from excise taxes and state revenue sharing. The state shares a portion of income and sales taxes it collects with individual towns, and Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to overhaul state revenue sharing could likely reduce what towns receive from the state.

The “complete change,” as Plante put it, in the way the state shares that revenue could save state income taxpayers, but also could result in a loss of $180 million to $190 million for Maine towns. Plante said Windham could lose between $200,000 to $300,000.

Another large source of non-property tax money is excise taxes paid by residents who buy new vehicles. Citing the sluggish economy, Plante projected excise tax to remain constant at $2.3 million.

“It’s tempting at times to push revenue estimates, but it’s better to be conservative in putting budgets together rather than overestimating revenues,” Plante said.