As Projects Mount, Orleans Ponders New Revenue Streams

ORLEANS – “Orleans has a long list of wants and an equally long list of needs.”

Those words by Finance Committee chair Elaine Baird set the table for a lengthy discussion between the committee and the select board about budgeting as the town approaches the start of the 2027 fiscal year in July.

With projects including a new fire station and library and possibly a new Orleans Elementary School looming in the near term and other capital projects lingering further off on the horizon, members of both panels on Sept. 24 wrestled with how to fund those various projects apart from residential taxation.

The joint hearing was designed to set budget priorities for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. But discussion about how to best diversify the town’s revenue streams dominated the dialogue.

"We just have to find another way to make money that isn’t squeezing out of the same lemon,” Baird said.

A new fire station is estimated to cost between $40 million and $45 million, while early estimates put the potential cost of building a new elementary school at about $55 million. A new library, meanwhile, is expected to cost in the area of $41 million for design and construction.

With such considerable costs, select board and finance members stressed the importance of sound financial planning, including what Baird called the creation of a “well developed, thorough capital plan.”

Alice Thomason of the finance committee stressed the importance of gathering data to support the town’s capital spending moving forward. She said there are times when comments and opinions are made publicly about capital projects and spending that aren’t supported by that data.

“I worry about these kinds of conversations, discussions, points being made when we don’t have substantial data behind it to help us decide what to do next,” she said.

Central to the town’s long range capital planning efforts is the completion of a study assessing the state of all of the town’s existing facilities, Town Manager Kim Newman said. Without that, she said, it is difficult for the town to prioritize and make decisions around capital projects.

“We have to get this facilities study done,” she said. “Because I don’t want to go back before another meeting and say ‘This is the next thing we’ve got to fund’ without that data that tells us what the next 20 years is going to look like.” Newman said the town has put out a request for proposals to hire a consultant to help it gather the facilities data it needs.

Others at the Sept. 24 hearing suggested additional fees as a way to bring in more revenue. Mefford Runyon of the select board gave support to implementing new fees, especially those geared toward non-residents. 

“However, I don’t think fees move the needle on this discussion at all,” he said. But Michael Herman said the town should still look at ways of bringing in more revenue through fees, including ones for visitors who use the town’s transfer station and beaches.

Residential and economic growth was discussed as a means of driving more revenue for the town. Tony Pearl of the finance committee asked if tax incentives could be provided to people who bring new businesses into the downtown area, where there are still empty storefronts. Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan said that could be something to consider at the board’s annual tax classification hearing in November.

“We could actually, just through setting the tax rate, give a small break to commercial” properties, he said.

Mary Wright of the planning board said the need for growth, both economically and in terms of population, is something that’s been discussed by her board.

“What are the businesses that are going to drive population growth? What are the businesses that are going to make it possible for those higher income jobs to be here?” she said.

But growth adds cost to the town in the form of infrastructure needs, noted Mark Mathison of the select board. Instead, he said the town should rethink how it wants to use existing parcels that are being underutilized. As an example, he cited a long-vacant building behind the Corner Store on Main Street that used to house a laundromat.

“It sits there, and it generates next to nothing in tax revenue,” he said. “And it’s adjacent to the sewer.”

And while much of the discussion focused on future projects, Lynn Bruneau, formerly of the finance committee, said the town also needs to keep an eye on its financial commitments to projects already underway, or in some cases near completion. 

The subject of a possible residential tax exemption was also discussed. The board is weighing the pros and cons of adopting a partial exemption for the town’s year-round property owners that would shift some of the tax burden onto second homeowners. But Newman said an exemption, if adopted, is still a ways out, citing the lead time that would be needed for staff to prepare for it. Town Assessor Brad Hinote recommended in September that an exemption, if the select board opts for one, be put in place for fiscal 2028.