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ORONO BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING MEETING HELD DECEMBER 3. 1990 <br />with a young family. I am just getting to a point wher? I can <br />put some money away. Suddenly everyone is increasing my taxes. <br />I am asking t^e City to tighten its belt a bit. There is no <br />guarantee that the Cxty will not increase taxes at this level <br />again next year. If there is any way for the City to reconsider <br />and lower the increase I would appreciate it.'' <br />Acting Mayor Callahan stated that the majority of the cost <br />of running the City involve personnel costs. He said, "All of <br />you who are employed and employ other people, realize that there <br />is a demand on one side or a scream on the other, to raise <br />salaries each year. Common justice suggests thac employees of <br />the City do and should get increases from time to time. That <br />constitutes the majority of the budget. The number of personnel <br />that the City hires is limited and there are no excess people in <br />any department. The City could not function in an orderly manner <br />without the people it currently has employed. Wa cannot keep <br />these employees at a certain rate of pay. We need to give them <br />some kind of an increase. The Council believes that we are doing <br />a good job. We watch the personnel carefully and the increases <br />in salary as well. As the number of households in the City <br />increase, the cost of services performed also becomes higher <br />because more has to be done. There are more streets that need to <br />be cleaned. The police department has more area to cover. The <br />building inspector has more buildings to inspect, etc. The taxes <br />are part of a result of this. The City does compare the cost of <br />hiring a -.rvice full-time as opposed to contracting on an hourly <br />basis. We realize that the property values in this community are <br />very high. The City Council still compares the relationship of <br />property values to the levy with other cities to assure that we <br />are not out of line. It is difficult for a Council to judge a <br />budget line by line. I believe t.ie Council and City has done a <br />good job in assuring that the City has not fallen into debt and <br />have been able to fund unexpected items that occur througaout the <br />year. <br />The item of the bond refunding is an item which can bs cut <br />out of the budget. However, the idea should have been presented. <br />The City must look into the future and consider future trends and <br />expenditures. Our ability to raise money is limited by statute. <br />The recession that has been talked about and the certainty that <br />the State is going to raise taxes is frightening. I agree with <br />the points made by Mr. Jabbour, that what has been proposed does <br />make good business sense." <br />- 12 -