With Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle, in attendance, the January 15 Damariscotta Board of Selectmen meeting had one main focus:

Money.

The board discussed, among other topics, the state's revenue sharing program and how tax-exempt properties present a unique challenge to the town.

Devin said the $65 million in revenue sharing this year is safe, but next year's proposed $61 million isn't certain.

“We're in good shape for 2014,” he said. “Revenue sharing is one of the things people on the far-left and the far-right can agree on. It unites the legislature.”

Devin said several tax loopholes were closed, which could account for $40 million in the upcoming budget.

But, with Damariscotta paying its fair share, more of a guarantee would be nice, Chairman Joshua Pinkham said.

“What happens if one town says 'enough is enough, we're not paying'?” he said. “But (the state) keeps taking more and more. At what point do we say 'We need to start looking out for ourselves.'”

Devin said he would continue to fight for revenue sharing.

In addition to revenue sharing woes, the issue of non-taxable entities was a hot topic.

Damariscotta has a total assessed value of $338 million and 17 percent of that, or $57.5 million, isn't taxable. Wiscasset has the highest percentage of non-taxable properties in Lincoln County at 19 percent.

Those non-taxable entities, which include Miles Memorial Hospital, churches and nonprofits, use town resources, which could provide a strain, Joshua Pinkham said.

“If you look at the police report in the paper this week we had to send an officer down to the hospital several times because a patient was getting unruly,” he said. “When we roll a cruiser down there, there's not only the cost of gas and the cruiser, but we're paying that person.”

While the hospital is billed for using the Damariscotta Police Department, the town should have other avenues for revenue to offset non-taxable entities, Pinkham said.

“It takes money to maintain all of that,” he said. “It would be nice to know we have options; they should let the people of Damariscotta decide.”