Staff Writer 

Cape Elizabeth Town Manager Michael McGovern said preparing a municipal budget for the upcoming fiscal year has been “about as challenging as it’s ever been.”

“We live in interesting times,” he told the town council on Monday before presenting his initial budget, which was unanimously forwarded to the finance committee for review.

According to an initial budget schedule, the finance committee will review McGovern’s proposed $8.5 million municipal budget at their first meeting next week. The proposed budget decreased by approximately $276,000 – roughly 3 percent less than the 2009 municipal budget – a decrease in spending McGovern said he considers “responsible, particularly when we look at the economic climate we had in December.”

McGovern is expecting revenues from sources other than property taxes – including income from vehicle registrations, building permits and revenue sharing – to decline by $300,000 in the next year. When combined with an approximate $217,000 decrease last year, revenue will have dropped 14 percent, according to McGovern’s proposal. 

To counteract revenue shortfalls, McGovern is proposing to for increase trash disposal fees and for residents and commercial haulers, which could bring in an extra $15,000. A new schedule for the Recycling Center, as was approved by the council, also saves an estimated $14,000, according to McGovern’s proposal. McGovern also suggests reducing the amount of overtime shifts for the police department – an estimated $37,000 savings – reducing the facilities manager position from full to half time – a $45,000 savings – and combining the town clerk’s position with the duties of the assistant town manager has saved $36,000. According to McGovern’s proposal, it is the first time in 49 years that Cape Elizabeth has not had a town clerk.

The initial budget also includes reductions for town boards and commissions for various townprojects, postponing Family Fun Day until 2010 and taking advantage of decreased energy costs. Perhaps the largest line item affected by McGovern’s proposal is the budget devoted to the town dispatching service budget.

“An estimated 98 percent of the population of the United States is served by a dispatch center serving a population greater than Cape Elizabeth,” McGovern wrote in his proposal. “The town is actively studying two options for consolidation as of the time this is being written. One option is to join the Cumberland County center and the other is to merge with Portland and South Portland.”

According to McGovern’s proposal, joining the Cumberland County dispatch center could reduce the town’s dispatching cost by $192,000, more than half of the $360,000 spent to keep the service locally based in the 2009 budget. The shift would also create a new police department clerk position, – with salary and benefits totaling approximately $60,000 – bringing the total savings of regionalization to roughly $132,000 a year, according to the proposal. 

“The savings are known for the county option but more numbers are still being evaluated for the metro option,” McGovern wrote. 

If approved by the finance committee and accepted by the council, McGovern’s proposed municipal budget would result in a .5 percent decrease in property taxes, a savings of $65 for the average household. 

When combined with a recently updated proposed $20.1 million school budget from Superintendent Alan Hawkins, taxpayers in Cape Elizabeth could pay the same amount of property taxes in 2010 as they did in 2009. Hawkins said he reorganized his initial proposal after discovering nearly $200,000 in fuel and health insurance related costs last week, reducing the burden on taxpayers to meet his proposed 1.93 percent increased school budget. 

“We’re looking at a zero percent increase [to taxes]. That’s very impressive,” Councilor Paul McKenney said.

Hawkins was expected to present the most recent version of the school budget to the school board Tuesday after the Sentry deadline.