By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — The Town of Casco has approached the half-way mark of its fiscal year.

The excise tax from vehicle sales took a surprising upward turn. Meanwhile, the State of Maine’s revenue sharing has also exceeded expectations.

Seems the beginning of the calendar year signals the time that department heads start planning their proposed budgets that will need to be approved at town meeting in the spring. 

As promised, Casco Interim Town Manager Don Gerrish provided his bi-monthly update on the budget to the Casco Board of Selectmen.

“We are 50% through our fiscal year,” he said.

The town’s fiscal calendar goes from July 1 to June 30. 

Gerrish had good news to share with the board. 

“Excise tax is $60,000 ahead of where we were last year, which is good,” he said. 

“We have exceeded our estimate for the State Revenue sharing of $125,000 by $50,000,” he said, adding that there is “the anticipation we will be over our estimate by the end of year by $140,000.”

After touching on the revenue side of the picture, he talked about the spending side.

“Most expenditures are also looking good. In General Assistance, we budgeted $6,000 for rent and have spent $6,400 mainly because of COVID-19 issues. We do receive a 50 percent reimbursement from the state for these expenditures,” Gerrish said.

Town officials have started working on the proposed 2021-22 budget, he said. 

Some of that budget work is regarding services that are shared regionally, with neighboring towns.

“I have met with Naples on the bulky waste and recycling budget, and a meeting is scheduled with Naples and Raymond for the Animal Control Officer budget,” Gerrish said. 

“Department heads are working on their budgets,” he said. 

The Interim town manager said that he has begun the process of reviewing the budget. In preparing the budget, he is looking at Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) such as the sand-salt shed replacement. 

“The fire department has done one [a CIP list] in term of their equipment,” he said.

“We will look at other buildings, this building [the community center] and the town office to see if there are any needs, long-term needs, over the next five years anyway,” Gerrish said. “We will think about the big issues, where we have to raise money or save money.”