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January 7, 2021 ~ Budget Presentation

2021-01-07 · Budget Committee · 2:19:51 · watch on YouTube →

A joint budget committee and select board meeting held over Zoom on January 7, 2021, the first of the season's budget meetings, given over entirely to the public works operating budget and the public works capital requests. Calvin walked the committee line by line through the department's request, opening with an explanation that the 20.25% headline increase is largely the restoration of paving and other lines cut in 2020 because of COVID. Ruth answered questions on workers compensation, which rose about 52% townwide on the strength of a single 2019 injury claim, and on 2020 revenues, which did not fall as far as had been feared. Paul gave the budget committee an overview of the capital improvement program and presented the committee's ranking of five capital requests, in which the department's $95,000 single axle dump truck placed fourth. Members pushed back on the truck as an addition to the fleet rather than a replacement, and on a projected 11% tax increase if the budget were accepted as presented. No motions were made and no votes were taken; the meeting ended with the next session set for the following Tuesday on the fire department budget.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

  1. 0:03
    Opening and meeting format

    The chair opened what was described as a joint budget committee and selectmen's meeting, the first of probably many, and said the public works budget would be discussed. Members were asked to mute, to use cameras where possible, and to use the raise-hand function; the meeting was recorded and Calvin shared his budget spreadsheet on screen.

  2. 0:03
    The 20.25% headline increase

    Calvin opened by saying the spreadsheet shows a 20.25% increase but that this is not a real increase in his ask. He said last year's COVID cuts took $187,000 out of paving alone, and that measured against the budget as approved before those cuts the increase is far smaller; the comparison figure he gave is garbled in the recording, spoken as "39%" in the same breath as "basically flat".

  3. 0:03
    Wage, labor and janitorial lines

    Calvin (?) said the allowance for merit wage is handled by Ruth and the select board and is not in his total. The road commissioner salary line ran over because a 53rd week had not been accounted for, labor came within $558 of budget, and janitorial wages were all but $296 spent because the cleaner was out for personal reasons; he asked to hold both lines.

  4. 5:03
    Workers compensation up 52% townwide

    Ruth (?) said the insurer looks back three years and that a fairly significant claim in 2019 has now come onto the town's workers compensation, raising it by 52% this year, with large increases showing across every department's lines. Calvin had put the increase on his own line at 56%. Lois (?) asked whether the 50% increase would come off next year. The answer given was that the rating covers three years, currently 2017 through 2019, that 2017 falls off next year, and that it will be another two years before the 2019 claim, the large one, drops out.

  5. 5:03
    What the crew did without the paving work

    Jill (?) asked what the crew did in 2020 given the paving projects were cut. Calvin (?) said they were ditching, doing maintenance paving, box cutting and rebuilding roads.

  6. 5:03
    Utilities, communications, equipment and rental lines

    Calvin (?) asked to hold electricity and utilities flat because last year's low fuel prices are not expected to hold, to cut communications by $500, and to restore an equipment line to $45,000 after cutting it too deep last year. He asked to raise rental equipment to $12,000 so the town can rent a grader and do its own grading, because the arrangement under which Pownal (?) did the grading has become hard to repay in kind.

  7. 10:24
    Truck wash station, $7,000

    Calvin (?) asked $7,000 for a three-tank and pump truck wash, saying garden hoses give almost no water when two or three trucks are being washed and that the problem is volume, not pressure. Asked why it was not submitted as a capital request given it is over $5,000, he said he had thought the capital threshold was $10,000, conceded the point, but asked to leave it in the operating budget; he confirmed to Mike Clark that it is a one-time cost with no ongoing increase. Mike Clark (?) said New Gloucester has a brand new truck wash facility on Route 100 and that he had mentioned to Ted Shane that Durham might be interested at some point, while noting the cost of the drive and the vehicle miles.

  8. 10:24
    Vegetation management put off

    Calvin (?) said he was willing to cut a line this year but wanted it kept on the radar that the town will need a vegetation management plan within a few years, because trees on the side of the road away from the utility lines are growing out into the travelled way.

  9. 15:40
    Truck wash challenged; training, culverts, signs and safety equipment

    A member said he had spoken to an employee of a construction company with a reputation for impeccably clean trucks who reported having ample water from tanks, and asked why Durham could not do the same. Calvin (?) said the issue is volume rather than pressure, that low volume drives salt into the cracks, and that crews often have only a few hours between storms. Calvin held training at $1,000 despite little training taking place under COVID, cut culverts by about $2,000 to 12 because more are on hand, and held erosion control at $2,500. He asked to restore the signs line to $3,500 after it was cut in the COVID reductions, and held safety equipment at $3,000.

  10. 20:43
    Sign costs questioned; questions held to the end

    Jill (?) asked whether Durham town welcome signs were still in the line and Lois (?) asked whether signs are on a replacement cycle. Calvin (?) said no town signs were bought this year, that individual signs now run over $50, that a long-held surplus of material has been used up, and that damage, private road signs and new speed limit signs on Old Brunswick Road drove the spending. The chair asked members to write questions down and let Calvin finish, then take them all at the end. Calvin (?) asked to go back to 38 on minor equipment, saying he wants a gas-powered sign post driver instead of sledgehammers and probably could not also afford a laser.

  11. 25:47
    Paving line and the public works parking lot

    Calvin (?) said the paving line only looks like a dramatic increase because it was cut in half last year, and that the request simply gets the department back on its paving maintenance plan. The figure also includes paving the public works parking lot, which he said is developing potholes.

  12. 25:47
    Fuel, uniforms, flagging, surveying, sand and salt

    Calvin held gasoline at $40,000 because last year's low prices are not expected to hold, asked $2,000 for uniform reimbursement, and restored traffic control flagging to about $1,000 after it was eliminated in the COVID cuts. He cut surveying of the legal status of roadways from $15,000 to 12 and winter sand to $8,000, but declined to cut winter salt, saying forecasters expect warmer temperatures with more precipitation and freezing rain, which uses far more salt than snow.

  13. 30:48
    Winter equipment maintenance and weather technology

    Calvin (?) asked to move winter equipment maintenance to 30 as the trucks reach five and six years old and start showing complex computer faults. He asked to halve weather technology to $600, saying he spent nothing last year only because he had spare units on hand.

  14. 30:48
    Why paving was cut in 2020

    Lois (?) asked whether the paving delay meant a work stoppage. Ruth (?) said the select board cut the paving line because the town was picking up the first payment on the 2019 road bond and wanted to hold the tax rate level given COVID uncertainty, and that paving is the only line that can be cut by that amount; the crew kept working on ditching and reconstruction throughout.

  15. 35:53
    Salt storage, plow blade history, and grant funding

    Calvin (?) said leftover salt keeps, but the salt shed on Route 9 has only one small corner designated for salt, the rest being sand. He explained the 2019 jump in the plow blade line as the point at which an original stockpile of cutting edges bought when the department was created ran out, and said he now tracks the mileage obtained per blade. Lois (?) said she had found FEMA grants for fire equipment and that another town, whose name is garbled in the recording, received about $63,000, and asked whether Durham was applying given the air pack request. Calvin (?) said he knew of nothing for public works beyond a webinar invitation on a newly approved package from Congress; Ruth (?) said she knew of nothing for public works and would keep looking.

  16. 41:12
    Unspent 2020 funds and the paving that was missed

    Mike (?) asked about the $37,932 of unspent public works money; Calvin and Ruth (?) said it returns to the capital fund. Asked what paving was dropped, Calvin (?) said the program went from about three miles slated to 1.41 miles done, and that the roads that were done had to be ripped out, box cut and rebuilt by the crew rather than simply overlaid.

  17. 46:40
    Explaining the increase to voters; parking lot estimate

    Kevin (?) said the committee will meet this with other departments too and needs a short, plain explanation for residents who see a 20-plus percent increase. He suggested adding a column comparing the 2021 request against 2019 actuals, the last normal year, and stressed it was a suggestion rather than an instruction. Neil (?) asked what the parking lot paving would cost. Calvin (?) said about $30,000, the same figure he quoted last year, covering only the front lot on the Route 136 side rather than the area behind the garages.

  18. 52:21
    No pay increase in the request; schedules and vehicle list sought

    Calvin (?) confirmed he is not asking for a pay increase, as raises come through the raise pool handled by the select board on performance reviews. Jill (?) asked for the vehicle list with ages and the road rebuild list; Ruth (?) said the vehicle material sits with the CIP papers and agreed to send the replacement schedules, and Paul (?) asked that schedules and vehicle inventories be built into the budget packets in future years.

  19. 52:21
    2020 revenues and whether any surplus exists

    Ruth (?) said the dire projections did not come true: 2020 excise tax came in at $960,553 rather than collapsing, and the local roads assistance program was down only slightly. Asked whether last year's cuts left money available for this year, she said no, because the town also cut the amount raised in property taxes rather than the other revenues, all of which were spent.

  20. 58:01
    Box cutting and paving contractor capacity

    Alan (?) asked whether other roads would need the heavy box cutting done last year; Calvin (?) said the worst had been dealt with and this year's roads should be straightforward shim and overlay. Asked whether the bond work had competed with maintenance paving for the contractor's time, Calvin agreed that without a bond project this year the pressure on the contractor, rendered variously in the transcript as Crooked and Kirker and most likely Crooker (?), should ease.

  21. 58:01
    Health insurance, the raise pool, and mowing costs

    Rick (?) asked whether health insurance rates really came in with no increase and was told they had been held flat. Ruth (?) explained that raises are budgeted centrally in a raise pool and then segmented into departmental lines, that the mechanics remain clunky, and that the town budgets to a bottom line rather than line by line. Rick (?) said all the mowing in town, including at the fire department and the town office, comes out of public works and asked for a breakdown of what it costs. Calvin (?) said he could put something together, and that the mowing is done by a retired part-time employee he also uses to plow in winter.

  22. 1:03:02
    State revenue sharing

    Lee (?) asked what revenue sharing would look like this year given COVID's effect on state income. Ruth (?) said the town takes what it has received by commitment at the end of June, that $210,000 sits in the assigned fund line now, and that she expects to at least match the $325,000 appropriated last year.

  23. 1:03:02
    Fuel purchasing and a lock-in quote

    Paul (?) asked whether fuel goes out to bid through the COG process. Calvin (?) said the COG price was within pennies and that the town buys from Dead River at rack plus 20 cents, unchanged for several years; Paul (?) suggested getting a lock-in quote from Dennis Burke, which several towns use, while warning that lock-ins carry lifting fee penalties if the volume is over-ordered.

  24. 1:08:16
    Paving bids and the asphalt price

    Paul (?) asked whether the paving would go out to bid and said he assumed the finance policy required it. Calvin (?) said he had numbers that day from the contractor and would bring the question to the board, that he calculates tonnage from linear feet, width and depth for a three-quarter inch shim and inch-and-a-quarter overlay, and that last year's asphalt price was $77.60 a ton with an increase of just under 3% expected.

  25. 1:08:16
    Salt-only winter treatment

    Asked about the sand and salt mix, Calvin (?) said the department uses essentially all salt, that sand has no melting capability and can inhibit melting, and that this is what MDOT and Maine Local Roads teach. Paul accepted the practice while noting the town pays more for it; Calvin (?) said a spreader can be dialled to an exact rate per lane mile, which mixing with sand makes impossible.

  26. 1:13:18
    Whether one department's claim raises everyone's premiums

    A member asked whether a workers compensation claim in one department raises premiums for all and what happens when a department sheds staff. Ruth (?) said yes, that rates are based on payroll rather than headcount, that she can ask the carrier to adjust mid-year only for a significant change such as a full-time position, and that smaller changes are caught in the annual audit.

  27. 1:18:46
    How the workers comp calculation works

    Ruth (?) explained that each department has its own labor line and its own rate reflecting the hazard of the work, that this gives a base figure which is then multiplied by a townwide comp rate she gave as 1.87 this year, and that the townwide rate moves with the number of claims. She said she had included a sheet of the calculations in the packets.

  28. 1:24:14
    Workers compensation worksheet and the 2019 claim

    Ruth shared the worksheet on screen: the firefighter rate is 10.57, the highest, and public works 6.82, applied to estimated payroll to give a manual contribution which is then adjusted by the experience modifier, a plan credit and a contribution reduction. The town's total is $82,894 this year, of which public works carries $33,941 across summer and winter roads and the fire department about 45. Rich pressed on why the change was so large and asked to see prior years' rates alongside this year's. Ruth (?) said the trigger was an employee who fell and broke his knee in January 2019, requiring reconstructive surgery and time off work, and that claims take time to tally so the effect appears with a lag.

  29. 1:29:29
    Capital improvement program overview

    With no further questions on the operating budget, Paul gave the budget committee a background overview of the CIP, which the selectmen approved as policy a few years ago. It requires department heads to keep replacement schedules looking 10 to 20 years ahead that show what reserve balances are needed each year, updated annually by staff and approved by the selectmen, and to submit applications each year for capital items they want on the town meeting warrant.

  30. 1:35:16
    CIP scoring and the ranked list

    Paul (?) said the committee meets department heads in November and December with written questions, then members score the applications separately and the aggregated scores produce a ranking by need. This year's five requests ranked: fire and rescue air packs first, public works reserve second, fire and rescue apparatus reserve third, the public works single axle 1.5 ton dump truck fourth, and the town office administrative reserve fifth, with the second and third virtually tied.

  31. 1:40:45
    Rollback of unspent operating funds into reserves

    Paul (?) said the committee has no way of knowing in November how much unspent operations money the selectmen will roll back into reserves, so it cannot recommend specific dollar amounts. Ruth (?) said the rollover into the fire and public works reserves is automatic under a town meeting vote rather than a board decision, that warrant questions to change that practice were dropped from the abbreviated COVID warrant, and that the board intends to put them back on.

  32. 1:46:04
    Why the dump truck ranked fourth, and the reserve figures

    Paul (?) said the committee understood the logic of the truck but wanted fuller consideration of how the pickups are used and whether the purchase could replace a vehicle rather than add to a fleet it is not currently on the schedule for, and that it was scored against air packs, a 20-year-old wheeler due next year and engine 21 in the 2024 budget. Calvin then set out the reserve: a balance of $121,821 plus $37,932 of unspent 2020 funds gives $159,753, from which he asks $95,000 be appropriated for the truck while raising $100,000 at town meeting, leaving $164,753.

  33. 1:51:31
    Case for the additional truck

    Calvin (?) said the department is one truck short: with crews split between sites each needs its own fully signed truck, so the mechanic has no vehicle to fetch parts and a knocked-over stop sign or fallen limb means shutting down an operation. He asked for an F550-class one and a half ton with wing and plow, live hydraulics and a calibrated side dump, saying the one-tons and pickups now plowing miles of subdivision roads carry gear built for parking lots and driveways.

  34. 1:56:56
    Fleet ages, staffing, and replacement versus addition

    Calvin gave the ages of the one-tons and pickups, said the department has five full-time employees plus part-timers called in for storms, and said parts sometimes have to be fetched immediately from suppliers. A member said he would push in future to put dead-end streets out to bid for plowing rather than continuing to buy vehicles. Kevin (?) asked why the new truck could not replace one of the large plow trucks, leaving five, since it would be better suited to cul-de-sacs and smaller roads. Calvin (?) said he would not pull a big truck off a main road and that all current trucks are needed, but agreed the new truck would let the older red one-ton be kept longer; Kevin (?) said he could be convinced if it replaced a smaller pickup but struggled with buying an extra truck to run to the parts store.

  35. 2:02:14
    From a $10,000 truck to a $95,000 truck

    Mike (?) said that in his three years on the committee this was the first he had heard of the fleet being short, and that last year Calvin had talked about $5,000 to $10,000 for a beater truck to tow mowers, asking how that became a nearly $100,000 request. Calvin (?) said the cheaper truck would only cover errands while this one solves two problems; Mike then walked the vehicle list item by item to establish what each truck is used for.

  36. 2:07:40
    Number of plow trucks; fleet already reduced from seven to six

    Calvin (?) said the town plows 76 miles of road, with six large trucks plus pickups and one-tons, and Mike (?) said around ten plow trucks seems a lot for Durham. Kevin (?) said public works ran seven big trucks a few years ago and was challenged to bring it down to six, that this request would effectively add one back, and that he could support a more suitable replacement when the 2023 truck comes due; he also noted the town does have a mileage reimbursement policy, used by the code enforcement officer. A member questioned the $70,000 estimate on the schedule for replacing the 2015 three-quarter ton in 2024, saying a base model should run in the low forties. Calvin (?) said the figure came from a dealership for a four-door crew cab with plow package and that he had not questioned it.

  37. 2:07:40
    Projected 11% tax increase

    Alan (?) said that taxes rose 2.9% from 2018 to 2019, that the rate was held last year, and that the budget as presented would mean an 11% increase, which he said is not acceptable. He suggested that not spending the $95,000 this year would leave it available toward the $100,000 needed next year.

  38. 2:13:12
    What the 11% figure covers, and the road bond

    Paul stressed that the CIP committee ranks the five requests but does not recommend that any or all go on the warrant, and that the 11% figure simply shows the effect of including everything. Ruth (?) said the figure covers school and county as well, on assumptions of a 3% school increase and 4% for the county against an actual 7% county increase last year, and that because the paving cut offset the first payment on the 2019 road bond, the bond's impact is being felt in this budget rather than last year's.

  39. 2:13:12
    Next meetings

    The chair said the committee was finished with public works and the CIP, and that the next meeting is the following Tuesday, with the select board from 6:00 to 6:30 and the budget meeting at 6:30, taking up the fire department and as many other budgets as possible, with a further meeting the following Thursday if needed.

  40. 2:18:33
    Department head availability and adjournment

    Rick (?) asked whether department heads would be available at the budget committee's own meetings so questions could be held. The reply was that it is better to ask questions as they arise, that additional questions can be emailed, and that staff would attend if something needed addressing; the meeting then adjourned.

What was decided

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

Elsewhere

← 2019-01-22 Budget Committee2021-01-25 Budget Committee →All meetings

Source & method

Town of Durham meeting recordings, YouTube auto-captions, and the town's written minutes
Captions cleaned into timestamped transcripts; topics and motions found by pattern matching; summaries written by a language model and required to cite the second each item begins. Every name attached to speech is checked against the attendance list in the minutes, and marked (?) where no record confirms it
https://www.youtube.com/@durhammaine/videos
Summary written by claude-opus-5. No minutes matched.
Data as of 25 August 2026 (the date of the newest recorded meeting in the index); retrieved 2 September 2026.