Lisbon finds extra money to fully fund EMS, transfer station in new budget
Large receptacles for recycling metal are seen at the Lisbon Transfer Station in February. Officials are implementing changes to better cover transfer station costs. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)
At a special meeting Monday night, Lisbon town councilors agreed to pursue amendments to the newly approved 2027 budget to restore full funding for Lisbon Emergency and fund unanticipated transfer station costs.
Last month councilors approved next year’s town budget effective July 1. In the process they reduced Lisbon Emergency’s funding request by roughly $65,000, cut a city staff position and funded the waste transfer station at a level later determined to be less than what it needs to operate.
In response, Lisbon Emergency officials told councilors they wouldn’t enter into a contract with the town for services for less than the full amount requested. In a meeting with town officials from Lisbon and Bowdoinham in late May Lisbon Emergency leaders spoke candidly about the negative impact the funding cut had on the department.
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The reaction prompted some councilors who initially approved the EMS funding cut to express regret about their votes, and the council has since been looking into how it can restore that funding.
The approved town budget also failed to account for $20,000 needed to continue certain transfer station services in July and August before changes at the station are instituted Sept. 1.
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As town staff looked for funds for the two departments, they realized $118,500 in non-property tax revenue had not been accounted for in the new budget, and could be considered “excess funds.”
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Town attorney Michael Carey told councilors the town charter allows them to allocate excess funds as they wish in the budget.
Councilor Greg Garnett asked if funds within the approved budget could be reallocated to fund EMS and transfer station shortfalls. Carey said there are a lot of stipulations in the charter around how reallocations in an approved budget can be done.
Following discussion about the two ways of altering funding in the new budget, a majority of the council appeared in favor of using the excess funds to bolster the two departments and putting the roughly $33,000 left over into a contingency fund to cover any unexpected expenses in the coming year.
Because the change can’t be made until the new budget takes effect July 1, councilors are expected to vote on the funding in July.
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Tagged: Lisbon Emergency, lisbon maine, Times Record News
Kendra Caruso is the Auburn city reporter for the Sun Journal. After graduating from the University of Maine in 2019, she got her start in journalism at The Republican Journal in Belfast. She started working. More by Kendra Caruso
