In 2005, Maine enacted LD 1 to limit municipal, school and county spending to no more than a 5% increase without a voter override. LD 1 requires voter authorization through a special warrant article in order to exceed annual spending by 5%. But in Edgecomb, the special  article hasn’t been on the warrant for years. On April 20, selectmen were asked if the municipal budget would exceed the 5% increase, and if an LD 1 warrant article would appear on the May town meeting referendum ballot.

All three selectmen responded they didn’t know about the law. Town Clerk Claudia Coffin reported the LD 1 article hadn’t been on the warrant for years. “My guess is that the selectmen stopped putting the tax levy limit on the warrant because they knew the vote would never exceed it. They were always careful to have capped money articles instead of opened-ended articles. They knew ahead of time pretty much what the maximum amount voted would be,” she said during the meeting.  

The 2021 municipal warrant is being printed and Coffin said the article should be included in 2022. In other action, the Bureau of Taxation sent a letter about a possible town referendum needed to enact changes in licensing requirements for expanding on-premise liquor laws.  If the state allows for expanded Sunday malt liquor sales, a town meeting vote is required to enact it as a local ordinance. Coffin reported a state legislator is proposing a bill which would avoid a town meeting vote by allowing select boards or town councils to approve a potential change to local sales restrictions. Coffin didn’t think the town needed to take action until 2022 to comply with any potential new state regulations.

Selectmen are also inviting three guests to their next meeting. Wiscasset Water District Superintendent Chris Cossette, new Code Enforcement Officer Jarrod Pinkham and State Sen. Chloe Maxmin. Selectmen meet next at 6 p.m. Monday, May 6 via Zoom conference.