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Stimulus money would be sought to fund the stations, and the education budget would shave the tax rate.

By DIETER BRADBURY, Staff Writer May 28, 2009

The Gorham Fire Department will seek $6.5 million in economic stimulus funding to pay much of the cost of building two new fire stations if voters approve the plan at referendum June 9.

Another ballot item will ask voters to endorse a school budget for fiscal year 2010 that, as currently proposed, would total $29.7 million and take 28 cents off the property tax rate.

The final school spending figures will be set at a Town Council meeting Tuesday.

Superintendent Ted Sharp said the council did not request any changes at the budget workshop last week, and he is hopeful the proposal will be adopted as written.

"I think taking 28 cents off the (tax) rate demonstrates that the School Committee has taken seriously its fiscal responsibilities, as well as its educational responsibilities," Sharp said.

The new fire stations would be built in the Little Falls section of town and in west Gorham. Gorham would share the stations with Windham and Buxton, respectively.

Four existing stations would be closed – at Little Falls in South Windham just across the Presumpscot River from Gorham; at White Rock on Route 237 in Gorham; at west Gorham on Route 25; and in the Chicopee section of Buxton.

Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre said the town will apply for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover $6.5 million of the estimated $8.7 million project.

Congress appropriated $210 million for FEMA to award nationally for fire station construction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Town Manager David Cole said Gorham also has about $1 million available in unspent funds from a 2005 bond issue that paid for the renovation of the former Shaw Middle School into town offices.

Additional funding could come from various town reserve funds that the council could consider redirecting toward the fire station project, Cole said.

"We're trying to take advantage of federal stimulus money to get something done that eventually will have to be done anyway," Cole said.

Lefebvre said the project would improve efficiency by reducing building operating costs and energy consumption.

The three towns would share equipment space and staff, and Gorham would be able to do away with one of its old fire engines, saving maintenance costs.

In addition, the new stations would provide more space for college-student firefighters, who live in stations under town programs that provide housing in return for student firefighting services.

"There's a lot of projects we have done jointly which have saved us money but improved our service, and this will be a further extension of that," Lefebvre said.

The proposed school budget meets a Town Council directive that educational spending in the last fiscal year and the coming year, which begins July 1, not increase the property tax rate.

In a letter submitting the budget to the council, Sharp said the school department was able to avoid deep cuts in part because health insurance rates remained stable and the state education subsidy was increased by $551,000.

Not included in the $29.7 million budget is $535,572 that the department received under the federal economic stimulus package.

If approved as written by the council next week, the budget would require property owners to pay a tax of $10.12 for every $1,000 of assessed value to fund the schools.

That's a 28-cent reduction from the current tax rate.

Staff Writer Dieter Bradbury can be contacted at 791-6329 or at:

dbradbury@pressherald.com