County budget cast back to commissioners

Over 100 community members gathered on the evening of October 30 at the Washington County courthouse in Machias to hear from the county budget committee about the fiscal year 2019 budget and the impact of adding three deputies and equipment to the sheriff's department to combat the rise in drug‑related crime.
Karen Raye, chair of the Perry Select Board, told the committee that as an individual she supports the need for more deputies. "But as selectmen our job is to put forward a budget without a tax increase." She added, "I implore the budget committee to find $300,000 of cuts" to offset the increase in the sheriff's department budget.
The sheriff's department has been making the case to increase its deputy presence since a series of meetings starting in January. The argument is that the county's substance use and related crime are making the need for additional deputies dire. "We are trying to get out ahead of the issue we're facing," said Chief Deputy Michael Crabtree.
No one at the meeting voiced opposition to the need, and most voiced support of the budget increase, particularly those small communities that do not have their own police departments. "It's a small price to pay," said Christopher Bell, chair of select board in Steuben. A representative from Deblois -- population 54 -- read a statement of support, explaining that speeding drivers and the "drug problem" are taxing the tiny community. "We're dependent on the sheriff's department that everyone pays for." Wayde Carter of Marshfield said, "We support it," adding that the county and its communities "can't depend on the state" for help.
In a show of support, Jonesport Selectman William Milliken noted that his town, which does not have its own police department, had voted to take $100,000 "out of surplus to spend it on the drug problem" in its own way. The town ended up spending about $5,000 of the amount. The town's vote to appropriate the funds "tells me that the townspeople support it [the need for more deputies]," he said.
Surprised by a community that could afford to appropriate such a sum, Baileyville Town Council Chair Tim Call, also a member of the county budget committee, asked what was wrong with a town paying its share of the county budget if it had that kind of money available to spend on the drug problem. Call was referring to the issue at hand, which is that larger communities such as Calais and Machias have their own police departments and pay quite a bit more in county taxes than many smaller communities that do not have the added tax burden of paying for their own law enforcement.
Billy Howard, a budget committee member, mayor of Calais and a real estate broker, said that in his business he visits many households. "Two‑thirds of the county residents are on fixed incomes." He stressed that the county needs to "get a grip" on service costs. He pointed out that Calais pays about $320,000 in county taxes annually and has its own police department.
Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien suggested that the commissioners hold a straw poll on the deputy expansion plan at the November 6 election. "You could get your answer," she said, to what the citizens of Washington County want to do. She added that she is not opposed to the expansion but that the primary question of what communities want to do has not been answered satisfactorily.
The commissioners had sent out a survey to communities that received a very low response rate, and one that showed more communities against or wanting to reduce the deputy expansion than those for the full proposal. Calais City Councillor Marcia Rogers had the same question as Therrien, asking, "Is there any plan to find out how others feel about it?" Budget committee Chair Lewis Pinkham responded, "That's part of this meeting. We're reaching out to communities to see how they feel."

Reserves, surplus and budget numbers
During the meeting, possible sources of revenue within the budget were pointed out by members of the public, particularly in the form of the surplus and reserves. It turns out that the county has about 55 reserve accounts attached to specific departments. County Treasurer Jill Holmes noted that she would need additional time to add up the total amount in reserves if the budget committee or commissioners wanted the number. Commission Chair Chris Gardner suggested that the budget committee should have the amount. The undesignated fund balance is at about $650,000, said Gardner.
Most likely because of the decrease in health insurance costs, sheriff department figures presented at the October 30 meeting were a bit less than a previous version. This time the proposed increase came to $318,611 plus $82,315 in employee benefits for a total of $400,926. The sheriff's department total expenditures would be $1.489 million for 2019.
The county's total proposed expenditure for 2019 is $7.84 million, which is an increase of $622,400 over the 2018 budget. With other revenues added in, the amount to be raised by the county tax would be $6.6 million, or a 6.67% increase over 2018.
After hearing public comments for over two hours, the budget committee agreed to meet the following morning. Budget Committee Chair Pinkham reports that the committee voted to send the budget back to the commissioners for recommendations on cuts. "It's unprecedented," he says of the committee's decision to send the budget back. The county's deadline for the budget's completion is December, when the commissioners vote on it. "So I would hope that we get the budget back sometime in November," Pinkham adds.