Bangor council opens budget talks with staffing requests from clerk, legal, IT

Bangor city councilors began their first budget workshop of the season on April 23, hearing from the city clerk, assessor, solicitor, and executive staff. Department heads pitched new positions and equipment, with the clerk's office seeking two staffers to handle heavy workloads and the legal and IT departments requesting additional help. No votes were taken.

Key points

• City Clerk Lisa Goodwin asked for two new positions, one for filing and front-counter work and one to cross-train on tax collection, saying her office handles about 40 emails and 50 calls a day and averages 135 daily visitors.
• Councilor Joseph Leonard said the same two clerk positions were voted down last year and called it a mistake not to add them now, citing staff burnout and delayed mail processing.
• City Solicitor David Szewczyk requested an additional attorney focused on vacant-building enforcement, a 20-hour part-time legal assistant, and new software; City Manager Carollynn Lear said he would likely prioritize the assistant and software over the attorney.
• Assessor Phil Drew said he needs one regular and two associate members for the Board of Assessment Review and expects preliminary revaluation numbers from contractor KRT by June 10, with final values due in late July.
• Executive staff presented new program requests including a $35,000 die cutter, a $15,000 wide-format printer, print software, and two IT positions (a cybersecurity analyst and a cloud security analyst).
• IT director Jeff Courtney said the city sees roughly 100,000 cyber incidents a day and that combining the two security roles could work short term but not long term.
• Councilor Carolyn Fish described a real estate closing that nearly fell through because title attorneys could not reach City Hall, which she said shows the clerk's staffing strain affects residents directly.

Next steps

• Finance Director Stephanie Kimball was absent; staff said questions about the budget books will be deferred to her at a later date.
• City Manager Lear said she would work with staff to develop a projection on how an added attorney could affect the property tax base.
• Lear said the city needs to update its ICAP formula for charging enterprise funds like the airport and wastewater for administrative services.
• Assessor Drew will present preliminary revaluation numbers to the council on June 10, with a public information session planned for June 16 at Peakes Auditorium.

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