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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Biddeford Budget Committee Meeting - June 9, 2026

City Council & Committees — Tuesday, June 9, 2026

BodyBiddeford, Maine

SessionCity Council & Committees

DateTuesday, June 9, 2026

StatusFILED

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:41

Good evening.

0:42

I will call the budget committee of June 9th, 2026 to order.

1:01

Lee, are we all set?

1:03

We're good.

1:04

Okay.

1:04

Budget meeting of 2020 uh June 9th, 2026.

1:09

We have already done the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:10

Same members are present from the prior workshop.

1:14

So we're moving on to the budget discussion and looking for a motion to remove from table all of the enterprise budgets.

Speaker 2

1:21

So move.

1:22

Second.

Speaker 1

1:22

Move by Councillor Boston, second by Councillor Woods.

1:26

All those in favor.

1:27

That is unanimous.

1:29

And I will turn it over to the city manager for an update, and then I believe we're going to wastewater first.

Speaker 3

1:34

Yes, thank you very much, uh, Mr.

1:36

Mayor and Council.

1:37

We are almost to the finish line.

1:39

Hopefully this will be our last budget committee meeting.

1:42

We have a number of enterprise funds that were tabled or were not discussed and approved to move to council the last time around, so we wanted to come back around and uh discuss them tonight.

1:54

Hopefully uh there'll be quick conversations.

1:56

Um first up, we have our public works director, Jeff Demurs, who's online calling in from vacation, so thank you, Jeff.

2:04

Um he's available to answer any questions you might have uh regarding this particular budget, but you'll see before you a um a spreadsheet.

2:13

There are some highlights on there just to share with you what was changed from the last spreadsheet that you saw the last time we discussed this item.

2:22

Uh just a few things that I wanted to highlight.

2:25

Um in reviewing the wastewater revenue from last year from fiscal year twenty six budget.

2:33

Um we determined that at the time the council had approved a 20% increase in the rates.

2:40

That 20% was never implemented going into fiscal year 26.

2:44

And so um that might explain some of the deficiency in in the revenues that we're bringing in.

2:50

So there's a recommendation here where our finance director did integrate 20% increase into the revenues for proposed fiscal year 27 here.

3:00

Um additionally, there was conversation about that million dollars that was in the in there under um object code uh four oh five oh three um for three five one hundred two.

3:12

That is the new sewer permit.

3:14

That was that's from uh sewer impact fees and it should be set aside for CIP only and not be mixed in with operational funds, and so we have removed that from the revenues as well.

3:24

Um if you scroll we'll we'll talk about the other kind of components in a little bit, but um having removed that that revenue, it makes us unfortunately further deficient in in our total revenue in order to reach a um a net zero on that particular fund.

3:42

Um let me just pull my notes really quick, my apologies.

3:45

Um looking at possibly not pulling the bond, um the five million dollar bond that would repay the general fund until later in the year, or only pull one bond, the other bond we would wait until the following year.

4:03

But in further discussions, um we found out today in terms of cash flow and just projecting out cash flow would make us really low in cash flow and uh kind of jeopardy jeopardize the position that we're in.

4:15

So we would want to continue that pull the bond.

4:17

Knowing that we'll we won't be able to pull the bond until later into the year, just given audits and everything else.

4:24

Um we we anticipate that we will still see the same the same um expense savings not pulling the bond till later because of the number of payments in principle and interest that you'd have to make.

4:37

And so um the recommendation is still pull the bond, but if we do it you know um uh slightly later, we would have some savings there.

4:47

Speaker 4

4:50

sorry.

4:50

Thank you, Mayor.

Unassigned speaker

4:51

So uh the five million dollar bond is for what I know uh director de Murs, do you want to speak to the the the two bonds that are out?

Speaker 3

5:04

I know one of them is to repay the general fund because money was used from it previously.

5:12

Um and I can see you, Jeff.

5:14

Can you unmute yourself?

5:15

Can

Unassigned speaker

5:15

you go

Speaker 3

5:17

ahead?

Speaker 5

5:17

Yeah, that is correct.

5:18

That is correct.

5:19

Well, one of them is to pay back the general from um for the Elm Street project that we did last year.

5:24

Um so that's what the first bond would be pulled for.

5:27

Um the second bond would be what polling is gonna be for the work that we are now doing on Alfred Street.

5:33

Um,

Speaker 4

5:35

Jeff, do you know what the amount is on each of the two bonds?

5:43

Just rough numbers.

5:44

The principal and

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████████████████████████████68%

Procedural████████12%

Public Safety█████8%

Public Engagement████6%

Parks and Recreation████6%

Summary of Proceedings

Biddeford Budget Committee Meeting - June 9, 2026

The Budget Committee of the Biddeford City Council met on June 9, 2026, to discuss and vote on the FY27 enterprise funds that were tabled at a previous meeting. The committee reviewed four funds: Sewer Operations, Airport Operations, Ambulance, and Recreation. Notable challenges included a missed 20% rate increase for sewer, leading to a proposed 31% total increase. All four funds were approved unanimously to move to the full City Council.

Discussion Items & Key Outcomes

Sewer Operations Fund FY27

The city manager reported that a 20% rate increase approved for FY26 was never implemented due to administrative oversight, creating a revenue shortfall. Additionally, $1 million in sewer impact fees that had been counted as revenue were removed because they must be reserved for capital improvement projects.
The combined deficiency requires an 11.2% additional increase on top of the missed 20%, resulting in a total proposed rate increase of approximately 31% for FY27.
Discussion included the timing of bond issuances (approximately $9 million total for Elm Street and Alfred Street projects) and the impact on cash flow. The decision was made to proceed with the bonds later in the fiscal year to generate savings on debt service.
Councillor Pearson made a motion to accept the budget as presented with the 11.2% additional increase and forward it to the City Council. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Councillor Boston requested monthly financial reports for the wastewater fund to improve oversight.

Airport Operations Fund FY27

Staff presented adjustments based on actual expenditures: gasoline expense reduced from $85,000 to $75,000, advertising from $750 to $300, part-time employee wages from $6,567 to $3,000, and cell phone costs from $5,100 to $4,100. These changes brought the fund to a net positive year-end of approximately $632, essentially breaking even.
A motion to forward the budget to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Pearson, and passed unanimously.

Ambulance Fund FY27

The budget includes estimated ambulance service revenue of $1,752,000 and a service contract of about $69,559, leaving an estimated surplus of $79,000 (down from a $96,000 surplus in the FY26 budget). The transfer-out to the general fund is an estimate and any surplus remains in the enterprise fund.
Fire Chief Best confirmed that the budget reflects recently discussed fee changes.
A motion to forward to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Woods, and passed unanimously.

Recreation Program Fund FY27

The aggregated recreation accounts show an estimated rollover surplus of approximately $205,000 for FY27, compared to $187,000 in the prior year.
Recreation Director Thompson noted that summer camp still has 35 openings (grades K-4), teen camp is full with a wait list, and lifeguard training is underway.
A motion to forward the budget to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Boston, and passed unanimously.

Adjournment

With no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned, noting it was the last budget committee meeting for the FY27 budget.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. I will call the budget committee of June 9th, 2026 to order. Lee, are we all set? We're good. Okay. Budget meeting of 2020 uh June 9th, 2026. We have already done the Pledge of Allegiance. Same members are present from the prior workshop. So we're moving on to the budget discussion and looking for a motion to remove from table all of the enterprise budgets. So move. Second. Move by Councillor Boston, second by Councillor Woods. All those in favor. That is unanimous. And I will turn it over to the city manager for an update, and then I believe we're going to wastewater first. Yes, thank you very much, uh, Mr. Mayor and Council. We are almost to the finish line. Hopefully this will be our last budget committee meeting. We have a number of enterprise funds that were tabled or were not discussed and approved to move to council the last time around, so we wanted to come back around and uh discuss them tonight. Hopefully uh there'll be quick conversations. Um first up, we have our public works director, Jeff Demurs, who's online calling in from vacation, so thank you, Jeff. Um he's available to answer any questions you might have uh regarding this particular budget, but you'll see before you a um a spreadsheet. There are some highlights on there just to share with you what was changed from the last spreadsheet that you saw the last time we discussed this item. Uh just a few things that I wanted to highlight. Um in reviewing the wastewater revenue from last year from fiscal year twenty six budget. Um we determined that at the time the council had approved a 20% increase in the rates. That 20% was never implemented going into fiscal year 26. And so um that might explain some of the deficiency in in the revenues that we're bringing in. So there's a recommendation here where our finance director did integrate 20% increase into the revenues for proposed fiscal year 27 here. Um additionally, there was conversation about that million dollars that was in the in there under um object code uh four oh five oh three um for three five one hundred two. That is the new sewer permit. That was that's from uh sewer impact fees and it should be set aside for CIP only and not be mixed in with operational funds, and so we have removed that from the revenues as well. Um if you scroll we'll we'll talk about the other kind of components in a little bit, but um having removed that that revenue, it makes us unfortunately further deficient in in our total revenue in order to reach a um a net zero on that particular fund. Um let me just pull my notes really quick, my apologies. Um looking at possibly not pulling the bond, um the five million dollar bond that would repay the general fund until later in the year, or only pull one bond, the other bond we would wait until the following year. But in further discussions, um we found out today in terms of cash flow and just projecting out cash flow would make us really low in cash flow and uh kind of jeopardy jeopardize the position that we're in. So we would want to continue that pull the bond. Knowing that we'll we won't be able to pull the bond until later into the year, just given audits and everything else. Um we we anticipate that we will still see the same the same um expense savings not pulling the bond till later because of the number of payments in principle and interest that you'd have to make. And so um the recommendation is still pull the bond, but if we do it you know um uh slightly later, we would have some savings there. Um sorry. Thank you, Mayor. So uh the five million dollar bond is for what I know uh director de Murs, do you want to speak to the the the two bonds that are out? I know one of them is to repay the general fund because money was used from it previously. Um and I can see you, Jeff. Can you unmute yourself? Can you go

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Biddeford Budget Committee Meeting - June 9, 2026

Discussion Items & Key Outcomes

Sewer Operations Fund FY27

The city manager reported that a 20% rate increase approved for FY26 was never implemented due to administrative oversight, creating a revenue shortfall. Additionally, $1 million in sewer impact fees that had been counted as revenue were removed because they must be reserved for capital improvement projects.

The combined deficiency requires an 11.2% additional increase on top of the missed 20%, resulting in a total proposed rate increase of approximately 31% for FY27.

Discussion included the timing of bond issuances (approximately $9 million total for Elm Street and Alfred Street projects) and the impact on cash flow. The decision was made to proceed with the bonds later in the fiscal year to generate savings on debt service.

Councillor Pearson made a motion to accept the budget as presented with the 11.2% additional increase and forward it to the City Council. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Councillor Boston requested monthly financial reports for the wastewater fund to improve oversight.

Airport Operations Fund FY27

Staff presented adjustments based on actual expenditures: gasoline expense reduced from $85,000 to $75,000, advertising from $750 to $300, part-time employee wages from $6,567 to $3,000, and cell phone costs from $5,100 to $4,100. These changes brought the fund to a net positive year-end of approximately $632, essentially breaking even.

A motion to forward the budget to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Pearson, and passed unanimously.

Ambulance Fund FY27

The budget includes estimated ambulance service revenue of $1,752,000 and a service contract of about $69,559, leaving an estimated surplus of $79,000 (down from a $96,000 surplus in the FY26 budget). The transfer-out to the general fund is an estimate and any surplus remains in the enterprise fund.

Fire Chief Best confirmed that the budget reflects recently discussed fee changes.

A motion to forward to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Woods, and passed unanimously.

Recreation Program Fund FY27

The aggregated recreation accounts show an estimated rollover surplus of approximately $205,000 for FY27, compared to $187,000 in the prior year.

Recreation Director Thompson noted that summer camp still has 35 openings (grades K-4), teen camp is full with a wait list, and lifeguard training is underway.

A motion to forward the budget to council was made by Councillor Lassard, seconded by Councillor Boston, and passed unanimously.

Adjournment

With no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned, noting it was the last budget committee meeting for the FY27 budget.

Meeting Transcript