What message did Wiscasset voters send September 10?

The leaders of two key Wiscasset panels interpret the results very differently.

Residents could only have wanted to pay more in taxes, because they will be paying more, Selectmen's Chairman Ed Polewarczyk said.

For starters, there's the $68,000 laid-off assessors' agent Sue Varney has coming in severance pay; the toll could climb with legal costs if the town refuses to pay it and her union sues the town, Polewarczyk said September 11.

In another ripple, adding the severance pay into the budget will take a town vote and a delay in tax bills, possibly leaving the town strapped for cash; the town could end up needing a second tax anticipation note, probably at a higher interest rate than the one already taken out, Polewarczyk said.

“Everything they voted down tells me they want a tax increase,” Polewarczyk said.

What they want is to spend less on assessing and less on the planning budget that only passed by one vote, said Budget Committee Chairman Bob Blagden.

It's almost hard to believe they're talking about the same vote, until you consider the fact that the two panels have been disagreeing for months.

Budget committee members had criticized selectmen for paring nothing from the assessing and planning budgets after voters rejected both in June. The board should have found a way to lower those numbers for the revote, committee members have said.

“By having the exact same numbers, voters were probably pretty turned off by that,” Blagden said September 12.

Selectmen had argued the amounts proposed were what was needed to fulfill contract terms and deliver those services. They had also cited the low voter turnout in June as a possible explanation for those budgets' failure.

Voters did approve wastewater pump repairs and the planning budget, as selectmen recommended. But in all other items where the two panels diverged, residents fell in line with the budget committee.

“I was really pleased by that, because we have a very good, very dedicated budget committee, and I thought we made some really good recommendations,” Blagden said.

The narrowness of the planning budget's approval points to voter concern with that budget's size, as well, Blagden said.

One person getting a flat tire is enough to decide a vote that close, he said.

The extensive publicity over support for the planner's job and for Town Planner Misty Parker probably played a part, Blagden said.

Polewarczyk said the budget committee's recommendations likely weighed heavily on the ballot's outcome. For many voters, work and family leave little time to study local budgets, he said.

As the selectmen's chairman, he had tried to make sure the budget committee and the town understood why the board's proposal was what it was.

For example, what looked to some like a 17 percent raise for Varney really amounted to 2.5 percent after her concessions in the latest contract, selectmen have said.

“I think I failed to convince enough people,” Polewarczyk said.

Blagden was pleased selectmen agreed to break out capital spending into individual items the second time around. When they were bundled in June, all went down in defeat. This time, most passed. The losers were a proposed public works truck and a generator sought for the municipal building. (The budget committee had opposed both.)

“Some pretty important things got passed,” Blagden said.

But Polewarczyk sees the rejected truck and generator as possible future burdens on taxpayers. A public works truck could need to be replaced or a generator might need to be rented; both costs could have been avoided had the items been bought with reserve money as proposed, he said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or susanjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com