By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

Last week the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen met with the budget board in the latest of what has been a three-month process to put together the 2008-2009 budget. Both boards voted favorably on aspects of the capital improvement plan, including funding for police, fire, parks and recreation and public works.

  At the top of the prioritized improvement plan put together by finance director Joel Downs and Town Manager Barry Tibbetts are two new police cars, with only one of the $31,500 vehicles falling under a spending cap mandated by the state known as Legislative District 1 (LD1). Downs said it did not make sense to place the cost of the additional vehicle on a five-year leasing program, as the estimated useful life expectancy of police patrol car is no more than four years. 

“I considered the life of the asset and the dollar amount. If we buy it outright we need to use it,” Downs said. “Why lease something that could be useless in three years?”

Comparatively the plan does include a five-year lease on a $40,000 vehicle for the fire department, also over the LD1 cap, which according to Downs’ priority list is estimated to last twice as long as a police cruiser. A $16,000 cardiac monitor and $10,000 thermal imaging camera for the fire department were also placed under a five-year lease option. 

Also included in the fire department improvement plan is a $150,000 refurbishment to the Ladder 100 truck, which is to be financed along with a 15 year, $1 million bond the town approved last year and has not yet issued. 

Selectman Chairman Wayne Berry asked the boards what would happen should the town look at alternative funding methods for the Ladder 100 project, which at a 3.5 percent interest rate would increase the town’s total debt service by $16,000 in the upcoming year.

“If we continue to do this the payments will exceed the new purchase,” Berry said.

  Fire Chief Steve Nichols said the repair was a necessary one, as the truck has required “frequent repairs” during the past three years, including replacing two hydraulic rams. Nichols said it would make sense for the repair to be done in a single instance to save the town the cost of having to dismantle the truck several times.

“A one-time shot would be cheaper for the town, the truck has an expectancy of 30 years,” Nichols said.

Budget board member Larry Dwight encouraged board members to leave the cost of the refurbishment in the 15 year bond. He said any delay could result in the cost of the repair increasing as the price of materials continues to rise.

“It’s ‘pay me now or pay me later,’” Selectman Robert Higgins said. “It could end up costing more to refurbish than to buy a new vehicle.”

Tibbetts said the plan includes “mission critical” items such as the police car and the Ladder 100 renovation, as many other requests for equipment such as an emergency services special operations trailer and various building and software improvements were not included.

“We had to cut it very tight,” he said.

Tibbetts said the entire budget will hopefully be completed by the end of next month. Per the state mandate, the town will have the opportunity to vote on all expenditures above the budget increase cap, including the police car and Ladder 100 improvements, as well as all budget items under the cap at the next town meeting June 11.

To contact Nate Jones call 282-4337, ext. 233 or email news@kennebunkpost.com