AUBURN — In only nine minutes Wednesday night, the 13-member Androscoggin County Budget Committee conducted a public hearing and adopted a $10.3 million budget.
No one from the public spoke, and when it came time for prevote debate, committee members fell silent.
The vote to approve was almost unanimous. The only dissenter was Tizz Crowley of Auburn, who complained that the committee’s work was rushed.
“I think our business is finished, ladies and gentlemen,” Chairman Norman Beauparlant said.
The passage represents a 2014 tax levy of $8.07 million, an increase of $78,930 over the current year.
The increase will be felt differently in different parts of the county. The tax levy is spread across the 14 towns according to their share of the county’s overall valuation. As property values shift, so do percentages of the total levy.
Lewiston taxpayers will see a 0.49 percent increase on their $2.2 million share of the total tax bill. In Auburn, the county bill will go up by 0.86 percent. Together, the two cities account for 53.96 percent of the total county bill.
Most towns will be paying within a percentage point of their 2013 levy. The largest increases will affect Poland, whose county tax bill is scheduled to climb by 2.25 percent, and in Lisbon, which will see a 3.11 percent increase.
The biggest decrease is scheduled for Mechanic Falls, whose bill is declining 2.13 percent. The town’s total valuation declined over the past year by just under $5 million, yet the total value of the county rose by about $93 million.
With passage of the budget, the Budget Committee is not expected to meet again until next fall, when it will enter its second year as a 14-member group needing 11 votes to overturn a budget proposal passed by the three-member County Commission.
The change was part of a new county charter, adopted by voters in November 2012. Current committee members were nominated and confirmed in September.
“With all of the newness, with all of the deadlines, the process went very smoothly,” Crowley said.
Comments are no longer available on this story