By Renee Worthing
Register Reporter
   Sanford’s Finance Director Ronni Lynn Champlin and Treasurer Paula Simpson said the town’s finances are “looking good” in the first quarter of the fiscal year.
  Champlin and Simpson presented the Sanford Town Council with a brief summary of the town’s financial status during the Nov. 13 council meeting.
   “Our revenues look very good. They came in as budgeted and I’m sure we’ll have a little for the fund balance,” Simpson said.
   A fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities.
   She said the town expects a $23 million commitment from personal property and real estate.
   “We have collected 51 percent of the personal property and 47 percent of real estate,” Simpson said.
   She said payments are still “trickling in,” but the town is still on track.
   “We’re pretty well on target,” Simpson said.
   Of the 2005 tax liens, she said there are 119 remaining and new tax liens received in August number about 300.
   “We receive money from those on a weekly and daily basis,” Simpson said.
   She said $1.1 million of the projected $2.9 million excise tax revenue was collected.
   “We’re pretty well where we were last year,” Simpson said.
   She also said foreclosure notices will be sent out in January.
   “Ambulance billing, we are doing really well with that. We budgeted $500,000 and we have collected $228,000,” Simpson said.
   The waste transfer station fees were projected to be $90,000 and $80,000 have been collected, Simpson said.
   “These may be areas we can increase as we go into the new budget season,” she said.
   Sanford’s bond proceeds are invested with about $10 million in the bank and “most of it” earning in excess of 5 percent interest, she said.
   She said she was not certain of the status of the fund balance as of June 30, 2007, but she said last year it was $4.3 million.
   She said the town recently learned the state revenue sharing will add an additional $275,000 to the pot.
   She said the state revenue sharing had been “stagnant” for quite some time with the town collecting about $2 million steadily. However, she said it would more likely be closer to $2.3 million.
   She said the 10-year, $120,000-per-year Rushton Street landfill debt has been paid off, Simpson said.
   “Currently the town and school debt is $9.5 million outstanding,” Simpson said.
   Champlin said during the 2006/2007 Town Meeting, she was authorized to transfer two percent of the budget.
   She said she did transfer 1.67 percent or $275,000 to cover shortfalls created by legal services, police department dispatch, public works and employee insurance and benefits.
   Champlin said the shortfalls included legal costs of $123,000, police department (including dispatch) of $30,000, and $24,000 for public works.  
   Town Manager Mark Green said the legal fees were unexpected and said the town did not anticipate having those costs again.
   Champlin said of the $90,000 appropriated for legal expenses, to date, $33,000 has been used.
   She said the employee insurance and benefit costs of $98,000 were primarily the premium for worker’s compensation.
   However, money left over from budgets for the fire department, environmental services, and parks and recreation helped cover those costs, she said.
   She said the town was very close to meeting its $18 million budget.
   For the 2007/2008 first quarter, Champlin said the expenditures should be “at or near” about 36.5 percent to be on budget. However, she said the current expenditures were at 40 percent.
   She cited areas of concern, including worker’s compensation premiums, which is estimated to rise to $335,000 on Jan. 1, 2008.
   “We will be short in this budget $32,000,” she said.
   She said the general services contract was settled with a $1,200 stipend for each position that fell under the contract which means the town’s budget would fall $35,000 short.
   “That was not budgeted,” she said.
   Heating oil, which was budgeted at $2.35, is now priced at $2.81 a gallon. Unleaded gasoline was budgeted at $2.50 a gallon, and diesel, which was budgeted at $2.75, is currently $3.16, she said.
   Champlin said when the town renewed the property and casualty insurance contract with the Maine Municipal Association, she asked them to increase deductible options. She said the change in the deductible saved Sanford $10,000.
   She said Green received a letter notifying the town of a 6 percent decrease in health insurance which would translate to a $90,000 in savings for the town.
    “I’m confident we are having a great quarter,” she said.