“We don’t have $127,000 in our budget to cut,” Dresden Board of Selectmen Chairman Phil Johnston said during a discussion January 28 of Gov. Paul LePage's proposed state budget cuts. The proposal shows that Dresden would lose $127,000 in municipal revenue sharing.

The cut the town would experience for the 2013-2014 budget includes $1,000 in a reimbursement from excise taxes on tractor trailer trucks, according to Johnston.

LePage wants all revenue sharing suspended for two years and proposes cuts to General Assistance for local people in need. For towns the size of Dresden, it could mean as much as a 50 percent cut from its current state funding of $2,000 to 3,000 each year.

Next year, the cut would amount to $135,000 if the Maine Legislature passes the Governor’s plan.

Last year the town of Dresden appropriated $696,251 at its annual town meeting in June, which represented a $52,950 cut from the previous annual budget. The town also appropriated less in 2011 than the previous year.

During a phone interview January 29, Administrative Assistant Trudy Foss said, “If we lose that, that’s a big hit.” Foss said local property taxpayers end up being the ones that suffer by shifting the burden from the state to town money.

Currently the Legislature has been examining the governor’s plan before making any decisions on the final outcome. Reactions to the plan have reverberated throughout the state in the news media lately.

“If they do pass it, we’re in big trouble,” Foss said.

Besides municipal appropriations, the town also faces a prospective rise in school costs from possible revenue cuts. The 2012-2013 cost to the town amounts to $1.34 million, which local voters approved last year of its share in the KIDS RSU 12. So far the town has no way of knowing what the future might hold for its share of the 2013-2014 school unit budget. Foss said the town receives very little information concerning budget proposals from the school unit.

Town schedule

Selectmen announced the town office will be closed on Monday, Feb. 18, for President’s Day. The next board workshop will be held Monday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Town Office, and the next board meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 11 at Pownalborough Hall at 6 p.m.