BELFAST - The Waldo County Budget Committee will hold it’s final public hearing on the county’s proposed 2014 budget, Friday, Dec. 6.

The hearing will be held on the second floor of the Fifth District Courthouse in Belfast, starting at 6 p.m. The public will have an opportunity to weigh in at the beginning of the meeting.

The roughly $8 million bottom line of the draft 2014 budget is down 2.2 percent from 2013. The discretionary portion of the budget — excluding the $2.8 million fixed fee that Waldo County pays into the statewide corrections system — is down almost 3.4 percent from the current year.

The budget includes a half-million dollar upgrade to the county’s technology equipment. The commissioners also managed to sock away a total of $150,000 in nine reserve accounts, including: Employment Security, Equipment Services, Severance/Assistance, Courthouses, Sheriff’s Facility, Vehicle Emergency Replacement, County Planning, Facilities (All Other) and Technology.

In a press release the commissioners credited careful management of tax money and lean budget requests from department heads. They also noted savings from the county’s self-funded insurance plan, currently in its fifth year, and a county wellness program started in 2012 that has helped one-third of county staff members enroll in fitness programs. 

The budget hearing will be followed by an executive session “for consideration of real property.”

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com