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CALAIS, Maine — It became clear at Thursday’s City Council meeting that, unlike other local governments currently grappling with Washington County’s financial crisis, Calais councilors are resisting calls to join a countywide bailout plan.
Councilors expressed frustration with county leadership and skepticism about how funds are being allocated.
Councilor Michael Sherrard led the charge when he began asking questions after Crystal Gallina, the city’s finance director, presented the county budget report outlining proposed cost-cutting measures.
Sherrard urged Gallina, the city’s representative on the Washington County Budget Advisory Committee, to vote against the budget for now.
“We want to see a plan,” he said.
Sherrard also called for the removal of County Manager Renée Gray.
“I have no confidence in her at all,” he said.
Mayor Marcia Rogers voiced a broader skepticism about the county’s spending.
“I’d like to really know what our county taxes are going for,” she said. “What are we getting for that money?”
Several months ago, after the Washington County Commissioners determined they could not pay an estimated $8 million tax anticipation note, or TAN, by its Dec. 31 due date, they drafted a referendum question that went before voters in November to raise up to $11 million to cover the debt.
In October, sensing voter resistance to the plan, commissioners asked municipalities across the county if they would be willing to pay their share of the $8 million debt upfront to avoid the county seeking a large bond.
Some towns are considering the option because it could save them significant interest charges on their portion of what could become a 10-year county bond.
Gallina said Calais’ share of the TAN is $381,000.
The November referendum failed by nearly 1,000 votes.
The Calais City Council’s opposition to the bailout plans stands in contrast to other local governments grappling with the county’s financial crisis. In Machias, The Maine Monitor reported, the town’s share of the tax anticipation note is $314,000, slightly less than Calais’.
Machias is considering a five-year loan to cover its share, which would cost nearly $71,000 annually in loan payments but save taxpayers about $40,000 in interest over the long term.
Gallina’s report outlined proposed county budget cuts, including leaving a probate office vacancy unfilled for a savings of $80,000, reductions at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and a proposal from the district attorney to close an understaffed office in Calais.
Commissioners’ salaries would remain flat this year, while nonunion staff members would receive a 3% pay raise, instead of the 10% initially promised.
The county is not renegotiating contracts with its union-represented staff.
The county Budget Advisory Committee, led by Commission Chair David Burns, is proposing about $900,000 in cuts, largely through staff reductions, according to the Machias Valley News Observer.
The hardest hit would be the sheriff’s office, where four positions would go unfilled; the jail, which would lose corrections officers; and the Regional Communications Center, which would see cuts to dispatchers.
Burns also proposed leasing two police cruisers, rather than buying them.
The council asked Gallina to report back with a more detailed explanation of “where they are making cuts,” and agreed to hold a Finance Committee meeting to review the city’s position at that time.
Gallina said that despite calls for a forensic audit of the county’s finances, the county is unlikely to request one because such audits are expensive and potentially redundant, with other state agencies already set to review the county’s books.
Gallina also expressed concern that the auditor now reviewing the county’s finances is not up to the task, describing him as years behind schedule and seemingly overwhelmed.
Near the end of the meeting, Gallina again asked the council whether it wanted to discuss prepayment plans and send a representative to join in towns’ discussions. The council declined.
“I don’t want to discuss it,” Sherrard said.
