OTIS – A city resolution with 57 articles will be presented to the voters at the city assembly on June 19th. Citizens will gather in the town hall at 9 a.m. First and foremost is the election of an electoral board for a three-year term and a school board member, also for a three-year term. School Articles will follow, requesting local funding of $ 1,280,440 for a budget of $ 1,698,383 for the 2021-22 period. To ease the burden on local taxpayers, a request is being made to use $ 93,994 from the school’s surplus account for the next year’s budget.
With the ups and downs of education spending, the cost of regular tuition increased by $ 8,000 to $ 836,798, while the cost of special education decreased by $ 21,000. Administrative costs have increased by about $ 21,000 while other costs, including the cost of transportation and maintenance of facilities, either stay flat or rise a few thousand.
The school also requires that $ 91,912 be transferred from the surplus account to the capital reserve account.
On the municipal side, the city is charging $ 743,425 to cover everything from paving the city streets ($ 75,000) to boarding stray animals ($ 300) to paying county taxes ($ 83,801) ).
Inquiries from local nonprofits cost $ 12,189, including $ 1,000 for the Down East Family YMCA, $ 3,000 for the What’s For Suppa pantry, and $ 2,688 for the Ellsworth Public Library.
Selectmen are also asking for permission to rent the Fire Brigade Emergency Station building on Olive Carr Road to the Mariaville Volunteer Fire Brigade “so that MFVD can work with Mariaville to provide fire protection and emergency medical services to the residents of Otis”. In addition to $ 5,000 for the Mariaville VFD account used for the equipment reserve.
To offset property taxes, the city estimates revenue of $ 235,500, mainly from vehicle excise tax ($ 125,000) and the undisclosed surplus ($ 87,000).
The city’s budget is just over $ 55,000 more than last year, with nearly half of that increase coming from paving costs and the remainder being spread across multiple budget lines.
News reporter Anne Berleant covers news and features in Ellsworth, Mariaville, Otis, Amherst, Aurora, Great Pond and Osborn. If you don’t sign up, look for her to hike local trails, read, or watch professional tennis. Email them at [email protected]
