New Orono budget sees multimillion-dollar increases

ORONO, Maine — The Orono Town Council is set to approve a budget that reflects a more than $2 million increase in town spending by the end of June, signaling a resumption of services lost to the pandemic.

The new budget for the fiscal year 2022 could seem like a huge jump in spending, but with increased revenue expected and a lower school budget, Town Manager Sophie Wilson said the numbers shake out to an overall $400,000 increase compared to the past fiscal year. 

“The budget that we adopted is restoring programs, services and plans that were in place in FY ’20,” Wilson said. “During FY ‘21, Town Council wanted to take a pause, and mitigate as much cost to the taxpayer as possible. We have come back and the Town Council with this budget is attempting to put us back on the path we were on before in terms of the service levels that we will provide to the community.”

Inside the $12.85 million expense budget, the town is putting money back into several departments and programs that previously saw cuts during the height of the global pandemic, Wilson said. 

The departments set to get more funding include Parks and Recreation to expand service offerings and to open up the town pool that previously was closed. The cost for the pool reopening alone is about $40,000, she said. 

The library department will also see an increase of $46,165 while the fire department will get an additional $374,175, which will help add another shift of firefighters, Wilson said. 

Another source of spending increases is the proposed $429,480 for capital equipment, which includes new vehicles for the fire and police departments plus Public Works, new guns for the police and police camera systems. 

Additionally, the town wants to invest $995,000 into infrastructure, which includes construction projects and paving. 

As part of the budgeting process the town is also in the middle of its first property revaluation done in 30 years, which is why the town isn’t able to say just yet how property taxes will specifically change, Wilson said.

“What makes this year very difficult is that usually we’re able to project a tax rate for folks, but the fact that we have not finalized the revaluation project makes it very difficult to project a tax rate,” she said. 

While some homeowners may feel confused or frustrated by the new value of their property, they have to speak with Vision, the company in charge of the project, to determine if the number they were provided is accurate, Wilson said. 

“I think the other thing folks were concerned about, but now feel better after talking to us, is the fact that their home value [property tax] should reflect what they would sell their house for,” she said. “The Constitution requires that we assess value based on fair market value.” 

Although the process is not yet complete, Wilson said the town expects that property values will be higher, which means a lower tax rate. 

The Town Council is set to approve the new budget June 28, but homeowners should expect to receive their property tax bill by mid-August.