Town Manager Gives Financial Update
Dec 21, 2024
TREMONT—Budget season is creeping in on the MDI region towns and monetary discussions have begun to take up a lot of room on select board, school, and council meeting agendas. The Tremont Select Board was no different when it reviewed and voted on the annual asks of non-profit organizations at its select board meeting on Monday, December 16.
Non-profit organizations are normally community-based organizations that provide a service or commodity to the community that they are asking for money from. They may not be located in the community that is being asked for funds, but they usually are providing something to members of that community whether it is some sort of service, financial assistance program, or just a community building or bettering program.
Many of the non-profit organizations ask for money from towns across MDI or even Hancock County because that the organization provides a service to town members across the region.
The following are the non-profit organizations that were on the Tremont application list on December 16. The first column of numbers is the amount that the town gave to the organizations for FY24/25 and the second column is the amount asked for by the organizations for upcoming FY25/26. Fiscal years do not tend to correspond with calendar years.
- Southwest Harbor-Tremont Ambulance Service. $75,000 $116,000
- Harbor House. $23,402 $30,000
- MDI Campfire Coalition. $3,000 $3,000
- Down East Horizons. $2,000 $2,000
- Down East Community Partners. $2,500 $2,500
- Tremont Historical Society. $3,500 $3,500
- Mount Desert Nursing Association. $2,000 $2,000
- Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County $1,000 $1,000
- Island Connections. $1,500 $1,500
- Bar Harbor Food Pantry. $2,500 $2,500
- Westside Food Pantry. $2,500 $2,500
- Island Housing Trust. $2,500 $5,000
- WIC (Women, Infants, and Children). $0 $750
All of the asks were approved unanimously by the board after a short presentation by a member of most of the organizations. Some organizations did not have a representative present. Island Explorer and Open Table MDI both received funds from the town for FY24/25 but had not submitted an application by the time of the board meeting for FY25/26 and were skipped over.
The asks that had an increase all had a representative to explain the rationale for the increase. The ambulance service increase is mostly due to a new staffing model to help provide better and more reliable ambulance service to the communities of Tremont and Southwest Harbor. The ambulance service representative, Dave Ashworth, stated that there will be an increased ask for Southwest Harbor as well.
The Harbor House representative said that the organization had to purchase two new to them vans this year and those purchases, in addition to the fact that its ask has been static for a couple of years, attributed to the increase. The Harbor House uses those vans to transport Tremont Elementary School students, including sports teams sometimes, to the Harbor House programs.
The Island Housing Trust representative stated that one of its major programs is down payment assistance for area home buyers. She said that historically IHT’s assistance amount has been in the $25,000-$30,000 range, but the last two have been around $70,000.
The WIC representative, Tamara Wilson, stated that there are currently 15 WIC users in Tremont. In the last few years, WIC has not applied to Tremont but had received money from the town in prior years. Wilson stressed that WIC is not a “welfare” program but more of a supplemental program and that the vast majority of its users are two-parent, two-income families.
TOWN FINANCIAL REPORT
Town Manager Jesse Dunbar gave the select board an update on the town’s finances as of November 30, 2024, which is 42% mark of the fiscal year.
REVENUES
Property taxes – $30,966
Motor vehicle excise tax – $33,405
Registration agent fees – $705
Vehicle chargers on Marsh Road – $112
Checking account interest – $20,490
LRAP state road fund – $26,289
Wharf use fees – $1,610
Unspecified interest – $282
EXPENSES
Dunbar reported that “the administration cost center is at 43.15% of budget.” Additional expenses for November are listed below.
Election workers – $883
Office supplies, including a new laptop – $2,006
Attorney fees – $1,282
Abatements – $2,285
Heating fuel – $348
Repairs and maintenance – $551
The public works cost center is currently at 36.40% of its budget. Some notable November expenses include the costs listed below.
Building repairs – $727
Heating oil – $979
Culverts and signs – $1,117
Plow and sander parts – $2,239
Diesel fuel – $648
Road salt – $2,606
Outside repairs – $14,459
Supplies – $3,563
The solid waste cost center did not give the percentage of where that budget was as of November 30, but some expenses are listed below.
Water system maintenance – $1,185
Paid to Eastern Maine Recycling (EMR) – $14,657
Tipping fees – $7,661
Recycling – $2,049
The wharf fund had some expenses and they are listed below.
Harbormaster’s office – $30,422
Wharf garage repairs – $754
Float repairs – $1,105
According to Dunbar, that $30,422 payment was for some groundwork for the new harbormaster’s office and for the building itself. The pre-constructed building is already onsite.
Dunbar told the select board that overall “there were no significant expense changes in November,” and he has “no concerns at this time.”
The next Tremont Select Board meeting is scheduled for January 6, 2025, at 5 p.m., at the town office.
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