Annual Town Meeting on June 13, 2026
Posted on: June 4, 2026 - 12:39pm
WARRANT
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Cumberland, ss. State of Maine
To RuthAnn Labrecque, a resident of the Town of Standish, County of Cumberland, State of Maine.
Greetings:
In the name of the State of Maine, you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the town of Standish, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, qualified by law to vote in Town affairs, to meet at the Standish Municipal Building, 175 Northeast Road (Route 35) in Standish, on SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2026 at 9:00 a.m., to act on the following Articles, namely:
Art. 1. To elect a moderator by written ballot to preside at said meeting.
Art. 2. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the following estimated non-tax General Fund REVENUES for the operation of the Town for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
Taxes (Non-property) $ 2,425,000
Intergovernmental $ 2,601,230
Licenses & Permits $ 604,575
Charges for Services $ 1,330,339
Recreation $ 0
Rich Memorial Beach $ 28,000
Penalties & Interest $ 54,000
Other Revenue $ 237,000
Use of Surplus/Other Funding Sources $ 800,000
Recreation Special Revenue Fund $ 821,700
Art. 3. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund ASSESSING expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 323,287
Art. 4. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund CODE ENFORCEMENT expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 174,934
Art. 5. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund GENERAL ADMINISTRATION expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 634,359
Art. 6. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund CABLE TELEVISION expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 247,067
Art. 7. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund TOWN COUNCIL expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 62,354
Art. 8. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund TOWN CLERK expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 416,779
Art. 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund FINANCE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 399,448
Art. 10. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund PLANNING expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 296,878
Art. 11. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund APPEALS BOARD expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 1,075
Art. 12. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund BUILDING MAINTENANCE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 332,878
Art. 13. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund PUBLIC SAFETY expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 3,209,005
Art. 14. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund LAW ENFORCEMENT expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 1,446,360
Art. 15. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund GENERAL ASSISTANCE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 87,482
Art. 16. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund PUBLIC WORKS expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 2,173,390
Art. 17. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund SOLID WASTE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 1,044,879
Art. 18. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund RECREATION expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 357,054
Art. 19. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund RICH MEMORIAL BEACH expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 63,213
Art. 20. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund DONATIONS expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 29,550
Art. 21. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund CAPITAL OUTLAY expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 25,000
Art. 22. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund EMPLOYEE BENEFITS expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 2,385,539
Art. 23. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund INSURANCE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 120,667
Art. 24. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate taxes for the following General Fund DEBT SERVICE expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 2,518,135
Art 25. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the following General Fund TRANSFERS OUT expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$ 2,500
Explanatory note: This is to fund the annual Public Safety fair. Funds are transferred out to the special revenue fund where this event is tracked consistent with prior practice.
Art. 26. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate from bond proceeds the following Capital Projects Fund expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$1,978,293
Art. 27. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the following Special Revenue Fund Recreation expenditures for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
$792,117
Art. 28. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate $800,000 from UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE (“Surplus”) of the Town for the purpose of reducing the property tax commitment in the 2026-2027 fiscal year as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee.
Art. 29. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate $92,588 from UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE (“Surplus”) to cover overdrafts in the following Town accounts for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-2025 as identified by the FY 2025 Audit, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee:
Building Maintenance $ 35,581
Public Safety $ 44,368
Insurance $ 12,639
Explanatory note:
The Building Maintenance account was overdrawn in the amount of $35,581 due to the utilities line being overspent. The reason for the utilities line being overspent was the Town was in a 3-year contract at a very low rate per kilowatt and when the contract expired in November 2024 the rates were significantly higher in the marketplace. The Town had to pay rates at double the price per kilowatt of the old contract. Also, the contractual line was over due to unexpected repairs to the Fire Bay roof that leaked into the building.
The Public Safety account was overdrawn in the amount of $44,368 due to multiple reasons. The first was due to upgrading our IPADs on the ambulance to support our Maine EMS run reports. The second was the Town did not have accurate contract pricing at the time the budget was put together for our dispatch services. The third reason was for Guiding Light Behavioral Health service. This is our contract for wellness for the Fire/EMS members. The fourth part of the overage was from the State for the mandated QA/QI of all our EMS run reports. The cost of this and the increased cost for our medical director’s fees put us over budget. The last reason the public safety budget was over budget was a result of higher call volumes and fixed pricing.
The Insurance account was overdrawn in the amount of $12,639. This was due to the general liability insurance coverage budgeted at 0% increase in FY25 but it actually increased 14.25%. In the prior year budget, the Town over-budgeted this line leading to a decrease in the budget in FY25.
Art. 30. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate from the TIF Fund account and to authorize the Town Council to expend TIF funds, in an amount not to exceed $264,753, comprised of $34,753 to fund a portion of the Director of Planning’s salary; $20,000 for Village Improvements; $10,000 for the Standish Summer Spectacular; and the remaining $200,000 to be used at the Municipal Officers’ discretion, all in accordance with the TIF District Development Program documents and 30-A M.R.S. § 5225, as recommended by the Municipal Officers and the Budget Committee.
Art. 31. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Council to accept and appropriate, on behalf of the Town, Federal, State and private funds received in the form of grants or gifts during the period from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers.
Art. 32. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate from the impact fee reserve accounts and authorize the Town Council to expend such sums of money as it deems necessary from the impact fee reserve accounts for their designated purposes during the period from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as recommended by the Municipal Officers.
Art. 33. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Council to transfer any unexpended but previously appropriated funds in the operating budget at the end of the fiscal year, to non-lapsing, restricted fund balance reserve funds, so that the monies could be expended in future years for their original, intended purpose, as recommended by the Municipal Officers.
Art. 34. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Council to carry forward appropriated but unexpended funds at the end of FY 2025-2026, provided that the funds remain in their respective accounts and are used for the same purpose as originally appropriated, as recommended by the Municipal Officers.
Art. 35. To see if the Town will vote to fix the date when property taxes become due and payable, with the first payment being due and payable on November 16, 2026 and the second payment being due and payable on May 17, 2027; and to instruct the Tax Collector to charge interest at 7.0% per annum on all taxes unpaid after said date(s) and to pay interest on overpayments at 3.0% per annum; provided, however, for any overpayments of less than $100, no interest shall be paid thereon and the amount shall be credited to the next fiscal year’s taxes rather being re-paid to the taxpayer.
The Registrar of Voters will hold office hours while the meeting is in session to correct an error or change a name or address on the voting list; to accept the registration of any person eligible to vote; and to accept new enrollments.
A person who is not registered may not vote at the annual town meeting.