• Agenda for Dec. 10 meeting

• Court awards $425K in    Oxford Aviation lawsuit

• Sheriff scraps coverage    agreement with state police

• Contract talks reopen with    deputies, union

• commissioners consider    budget for added security

• Budget increase to fund    road work in townships

• Photos from Oct. 15 public    hearing on 2014 budgets

• Sheriff seeks to appoint    department chaplain

• sheriffs from 5 counties    reach jail agreement

• 2014 Budgets

• 2012 audit reports

• 911 dispatch - the glue that    binds emergency services

• County tax levy by towns

Committee adopts trimmed county budget

by Peter L McGuire, Staff Writer Sun Journal Nov. 20, 2013

PARIS — Members of the county Budget Committee trimmed more than $64,000 from the 2014 budget, dropping the proposed property tax levy to its lowest amount since 2011. 

Commission Chairman David Duguay

Following more than two hours of deliberation in a meeting at the Oxford County Commission room Tuesday, the nine-member committee unanimously adopted $6,172,296 in expenditures, compared to the $6,236,463 proposed by commissioners last month.  

Even though the budget is still almost $273,000 more than last year, the amount of taxes to be collected from Oxford County is $5,170,554, a savings of more than $36,800 from last year's taxes.

The committee only made amendments to the sheriff's budget. In a 5-3 vote, members decided to write off a $91,667 payment the department was scheduled to make to the county's casino reserve. 

Last year, commissioners approved using $275,000 from the casino account to finance the purchase of 10 cruisers for the Sheriff's Office, with the understanding that the money would be paid back to the reserve fund over three years. 

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