The Cumberland Fire District is proposing a 2.8 percent increase in spending next year, but a 2-cent cut to the tax rate, according to a budget plan that will be presented in the first of two public hearings tonight, Thursday, May 19, at 6:45 p.m. in Town Hall.
Cumberland Fire Committee Chairman Bruce Lemois says the committee is looking at collecting $7.03 million in taxes next year, 1 percent less than the $7.09 million that was budgeted in 2015-16.
But he sees a doubling of outside revenue, from $268,700 to $544,700, for a total budget of $7.58 million compared with last year’s $7.36 million.
The tax rate will drop from $2.14 to $2.12 per thousand dollar property valuation, according to the plan. That’s $6 off a bill issued to homes valued at $300,000, from $642 to $636. According to Lemois, fire districts before the merger averaged increases of 4.7 percent in the final seven years. And the new rate, he said, is 3 percent lower than he anticipated it would be a year ago. The second public hearing required before the budget can be adopted is scheduled on Tuesday, May 24, at 7:15 p.m. at Cumberland Town Hall. That night is also expected to include the first vote to approve, followed by a second approval vote on Thursday, May 26.