The Boothbay Harbor Budget Committee has spent the last three months reviewing and recommending a town budget for next year. Now it's the selectmen's turn, with one big difference; they have only two weeks to make their budget recommendations. At the Monday, March 17 special selectmen's meeting, Town Manager Tom Woodin reminded the board members that they would need to complete their review prior to the Monday, March 24 regular selectmen's meeting. At least two members of the board were not pleased.

At Monday's meeting, selectmen Bruce Engert and Robert Splaine repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with a budget review process that gives them little time to make decisions. A frustrated Woodin had hoped that by attending budget committee meetings, the selectmen could quickly move through the 300 or so line items. However, it seems clear that the selectmen intend a detailed review and that their review may yield some different recommendations than the budget committee.

As of Monday, the selectmen had had an in-depth discussion regarding police coverage and costs with Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett, had restored St. Andrews Home Health's request for funds, and proposed further reductions in auditor costs, contract services, and harbor improvements. In addition, both Engert and Splaine seem keen to look closely at employees' salaries, stipends, and benefits, a review that the budget committee decided should wait until next year. Selectmen Louis Burnham and Tom Carbone concurred with the budget committee and advocated at Monday's meeting that employees' wages and benefits not be reviewed or altered until after town meeting.

Which leads to an additional hurdle for the board; the absence of selectman Brian Schutrumpf from budget committee meetings and the special selectmen's budget meetings this past week has created a deadlock. Controversial votes on budget items have been evenly split with Burnham and Carbone voting together in one direction and Engert and Splaine voting together in the other. Without Schutrumpf's tie-breaking vote, the review process is stymied. During Monday's meeting, Splaine recommended that discussion of employees' wages and benefits await the full board.

The selectmen have scheduled additional meetings for budget review. In addition to Wednesday's previously scheduled meeting, the selectmen have added another meeting for Friday, March 21 from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Monday's regularly scheduled selectmen's meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. to allow for additional public comment on code and ordinance changes.