ALBERTON -- Alberton Finance chair David Cahill brought down the town’s 2013 budget Monday night. It allows for a balanced budget with no increase in taxes.
The 56 cents per $100 assessment on non-commercial properties and $1.05 for commercial properties is projected to bring in $301,689 in revenue. Total revenue for the year is pegged at $776,440, with the biggest chunk of that, $323,791, coming from government transfers.
The town reported on its consolidated financial statement revenue of $743,692 and expenditures of $620,402 in 2012.
While the budget passed, it was not unanimous. The two new members of council, Blair Duggan and Natasha Dunn, voted against it
“There were some things I didn’t agree with, so that is why I voted against it,” Duggan said later. The recreation committee chair said most of his concerns had to do with recreation. The town has been without a fulltime recreation director since 2009.
The residents really want a recreation director - Councilor Natasha Dunn
Dunn said she was also concerned about recreation. “The residents really want a recreation director,” she said. “Going door-to-door campaigning (last fall) that came up over and over again.”
While the budget passed on a 4-2 vote, Dunn said she and Duggan took a stand. “We’re sending a message out that we’re not just rubber-stamping it.”
Claudia Gallant, past recreation committee chair, acknowledged there have been requests for a full-time recreation director, but she said the town cannot afford it.
“We’re going to do what we can with what we have,” she said.
“So, no tax increase is a good thing,” Gallant added. “Personally, in my mind, a full-time rec director is going to mean a tax increase, unless somebody can come up with another way to get the money. We don’t have the dollars.”
