Kittery budget proposal nears $16.7 million. Here's what tax rate hike would look like.

KITTERY, Maine — Challenges within the labor market, an increase in demand for community programs and a new town communications director primarily shaped the town’s upcoming fiscal year budget proposal.

Town Manager Kendra Amaral presented Kittery’s proposed $16,681,394 fiscal year 2023 budget proposal to members of the Town Council last week. The budget proposal for Maine’s oldest town is a 4.47% increase over the $15,966,995 FY 2022 budget.

If the town and school budgets are approved, owners of a Kittery home assessed at $422,000 would see their property taxes rise by $177.24, which includes an overlay amount of $100,000. The overlay is a municipal funding source in the event of a property tax revenue shortfall.

Kittery staff have proposed a tax rate of $13.49 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a nearly 3.77% increase from FY 2022.

The proposed $714,399 year-over-year municipal budget increase, Amaral told the Town Council, also accounts for inflation seen in markets nationwide.

“That's a huge driver for this budget,” she said.

A breakdown of each Kittery property tax dollar, according to a budget proposal document prepared by Amaral, shows more than half of each dollar supports the town’s school system.

For every property tax dollar, $0.62 supports the Kittery school system, while $0.32 supports town operations, including public works, the police department, Kittery’s harbormaster, town fire services and more.

“Capital is funded with $0.035 from every property tax dollar raised, and the county receives $0.02 of every dollar. The remaining is for ancillary charges such as the overlay,” Amaral’s budget outline states.

The town is looking to add a communications director to increase the town’s presence on social media platforms, namely by forming an official Town of Kittery page on Facebook.

Budgeted at $78,682 to account for wages and retirement benefits, Amaral said the communications director would assume virtual communication efforts currently conducted by her and executive assistant Suzanne Esposito.

“We’re trying to meet our residents where they go to get information,” Amaral said.

Though added to the department’s roster last year via a year-end transfer, the town is budgeting this coming fiscal year for a police officer, which would cost $110,000 in pay and benefits.

Amaral told the Town Council that the town is applying for a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant that would be used to boost the town’s full-time firefighter force.

If awarded, the grant would cover the three-year costs of adding eight full-time firefighters to the town’s fire department.

Amaral wrote in her budget proposal summary that the town should know in the coming months whether the grant has been awarded. If Kittery doesn’t receive the grant, an alternative method would be to allot an additional $375,000 to the FY 2023 budget to hire four full-time firefighters.

The town manager told Town Council members that a minimum of ten responding firefighters are needed to maintain safe operations. At present, Amaral explained the Kittery Fire Department has four full-time firefighters on its roster, many of whom are responding to calls coming in after hours.

“We are seeing, year-over-year, a reduction in the number of firefighters responding to calls when the 911 call comes in,” she said. “This is crisis mode.”

Kittery’s Planning Department budget proposal includes $50,000 for consulting services to conduct neighborhood planning efforts and to update the town’s design guide.

“The neighborhood planning efforts allow staff and residents to develop master plans for neighborhood development, and can be used to guide zoning amendments to ensure the type of buildout desired,” the budget proposal reads.

An additional $31,247 is slated to cover the costs of reopening the Rice Public Library, which has been undergoing a $6.1 million renovation and expansion since March 2021. The soft reopening of the library is scheduled to occur next week.

The town is also bracing for a $175,000 reduction, year-over-year, due to a non-recurring one-time allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding, in addition to a $93,000 increase in employee benefits.

“This budget seeks to ensure the town is offering competitive wages and benefits, keeping up with inflationary pressure, and responding to the taxpayers’ growing demands for more service,” says the budget proposal.

The Town Council voted to hold a public hearing on the budget at its meeting to be held next Monday, May 23.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery ME budget proposal nears $16.7 million. Here's the tax impact.