FREEPORT – A total proposed town budget of $10,970,276 – an overall decrease from this year’s $11,789,734 budget – faced its final public hearing this week as the Freeport Town Council prepares to adopt the spending plan on June 4. Residents, however, will see a small tax hike if the budget is approved.

“I think that the department heads cut a lot out and tried to keep the tax rate down with creative solutions,” said Town Manager Peter Joseph, who is participating in his first budget process since taking over the town manager position from Dale Olmstead on Sept. 17, 2012. The Town Council had scheduled a public hearing on the budget for Tuesday, after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline.

According to Joseph, of the town’s budget categories – operating, capital and tax increment financing – the proposed operating budget is the only one to show an increase. The proposed operating budget, which includes the cost of all town departments, is $8,984,485, up $225,932 from this year’s total of $8,758,553.

The operating budget increase accounts for the hike in the tax rate. The anticipated county and town tax increase for the fiscal year 2014 budget would be 7 cents per $1,000 of valuation. However, that does not include the tax increase from the pending Regional School Unit 5 budget. Freeport’s tax rate is now $15.45 per $1,000.

“Obviously there is an increase, which nobody likes,” said Joseph, “but we’re keeping it under the inflationary rate.”

The proposed capital budget is $955,100, a nearly $1 million drop from this year’s $1,947,650 total.

The proposed tax incremental financing budget is $209,500, a $105,000 drop from this year’s total of $315,000.

The budget also includes an enterprise fund category, which is self-supporting. Expenditures include $258,500 for the town-run Winslow Park in South Freeport and $562,691 for non-emergency transport, which covers the cost of transporting patients by emergency workers from homes and hospitals. Those costs are covered by fees. Last year’s total for Winslow Park was $267,452 and the non-emergency transport was $501,079.

Big-ticket items in the capital budget identified by Joseph include $115,000 for a truck chassis and a dump truck bed-plow and $94,000 for a wing attachment. Work on a drainage project on Torrey Hill Range Road, pegged at $150,000, makes up a large percentage of the $245,000 earmarked for comprehensive improvements.

The elephant in the room continues to be Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget that would eliminate $850,000 in state revenue sharing for Freeport, an issue the Legislature is still grappling with.

According to Freeport Finance Director Abigail Yacoben, the town has contingency plans if such a doomsday scenario presents itself.

“Certainly, we (each department) would take a hit if that full shortfall of $850,000 were to happen,” said Yacoben. “It would involve finding other revenue sources. It would affect everything from tax collection, police and fire departments, to tree maintenance – $850,000 is a significant hole to fill.”

The 2013-2014 Regional School Unit 5 proposed budget is $25,810,307 – a 4 percent hike from this year’s budget – and if adopted could result in an additional 2.97 percent increase in property taxes for Freeport. Durham and Pownal, who have a smaller population base, would see increases of 9.83 percent and 8.91, respectively. Residents of the tri-town area will have a chance to weigh in on the RSU 5 spending plan during a town-hall style meeting Wednesday, May 22, at the Freeport High School cafeteria at 6:30 p.m. The school budget validation vote is June 11.