MACHIAS — Nineteen Machias voters approved a $3.9 million fiscal year 2027 expense budget — an increase 6.73 percent over the current year — in a one-hour annual town meeting Tuesday.
All warrant articles passed without much discussion or dissension, although a proposal for a $70,000 grant match for improvements to the Machias Valley Airport drew an unexpected challenge on the meeting floor.
Andrew Mulholland, a local businessman and Planning Board member, motioned to remove the $70,000 budget line from the town meeting warrant. The motion failed, although some participants voted in favor, Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon said by phone Friday.
Mulholland said he would prefer to see that money go to something else, such as a school resource officer, a $20,000 line item that was cut from the Police Department budget this year.
“The school didn’t feel like they could fund it and the town didn’t feel like we could fund it,” Craighead Dedmon said, “given our desire to keep taxation as low as possible.”
She noted there is a petition online requesting that the town consider reinstating the school resource officer at the Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School.
“We said if the people wanted to talk about it, then we’d be willing to put it back,” she said.
The $70,000 airport grant is funding land acquisition for a proposed longer runway for LifeFlight planes and for apron/ramp engineering and reconstruction.
“In part, (the runway’s) value to us is something that makes it easier for LifeFlight to land fixed wing aircraft,” Craighead Dedmon said.
The total airport budget is $131,900, up from $52,450 in the current fiscal year.
The approved budget raises $3,877,827 through taxation to fund municipal operations, the school budget, and the town’s tax increment financing district, or TIF. This is an increase of $244,378 or 6.73 percent over the current year. The municipal share rose 6.41 percent and the education share is up 5.10 percent, according to budget documents.
The municipal general fund is up $302,538 or 11.66 percent from the current year, to $2.9 million, while education spending is up 2.54 percent to $8.9 million, according to budget documents.
Craighead Dedmon wrote in the annual town report that much of the budget increase reflects “investments in roads, public safety grant matches, and infrastructure projects intended to leverage outside funding and position the town for long-term success.”
New state and federal money offsets part of the budget increase. State and federal revenue is listed on the warrant at $1,045,905, up 30.64 percent, with most of the gain in state revenue sharing. Interest income is up to $193,000 from $77,000.
The Fire Department budget is up 5.14 percent to $411,605, with $31,000 allocated for grant matches through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. This includes $6,000 for air pack replacements and a $25,000 grant match for potential funding for a new fire truck. The $25,000 represents half of the grant match expected for the program that Craighead Dedmon frames as the town’s “best hope” of getting a new fire truck.
“We’ve really reached the point where we’re skeptical that any small town fire department will ever again be able to purchase a new fire truck,” she said.
The Police Department budget rose 2.33 percent to $785,350, though the vehicle replacement line was reduced to $70,000 from $115,000.
The Public Works department budget is up 18.72 percent to $665,473, with a new $66,000 road repair and maintenance budget line.
Ambulance service funding rose 19.31 percent to $169,950 — a 14 percent increase over 2024 — reflecting the service’s 1,907 calls last year. The Machias Ambulance Service’s full enterprise budget is up from about $1.57 million to nearly $1.78 million, according to the town report.
Machias’ share of Washington County 2026 tax rose to $425,642.18, an increase of 9.20 percent.
The budget applies $300,000 from the unassigned fund balance to offset taxes, down from $400,000 in the previous fiscal year. New state and federal revenue, up 30.64 percent to $1.1 million, will partially offset the tax increase.
Nine outside organizations were approved for a combined $30,629 in funding, down 9.40 percent. The Porter Memorial Library’s $26,000 is the largest recipient. The remaining requests fund the Burnham Tavern, a Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, Community Action in Aroostook, Washington and Hancock counties, the Machias Area Little League, veterans graves, Eastern Area Agency on Aging, LifeFlight of Maine, and Community Health & Counseling.
Voters approved a $120,000 addition to the Machias Revitalization Omnibus TIF district, an increase of 50 percent.
In its annual report, the Select Board wrote that “the year ahead will not be easy,” citing uncertain state revenue sharing and federal support. The board said the town will need to grow its commercial tax base to ease the burden on homeowners over time.
“Part of the answer lies in growing the commercial side of our tax base — through the comprehensive plan, the waterfront work above, and continued business development — so the load on Machias homeowners can ease over time. We will face those questions head-on together,” the report reads.
The annual report is the town’s 250th anniversary edition. The full warrant and budget appear in the report, available at the town office and online.
In a reorganizational meeting held after the annual town meeting at the town office, Jake Patryn was again appointed by the Select Board to serve as board chair and Ben Edwards was reappointed as vice chair.
The Machias Select Board will next meet at 5 p.m. on July 8.
