By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The Town of Naples will rely on a roads reserve account to make half of the $215,000 cuts required so that the town does have to exceed the tax levy limit.

There was $105,000 set aside in a reserve account in the roads and highways budget, according to Naples Budget Committee Chairman Jim Turpin. That money was essentially located in a savings account, and removing it from the budget will not impact the maintenance of the roads, Turpin said.

Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak had identified some of the potential cuts that could be made to the budget prior to Monday’s budget workshop.

Also, by Monday, the budget committee had grown from four people to seven members.

This winter and spring, the committee had three members: Richard Cross, Bob Caron, Sr., and John Nostin.

Turpin was elected to the budget committee as a write-in candidate during Naples’ local election and school budget validation vote on May 25. He was sworn in during the Town Meeting on June 1.

The newest budget committee members are: Rick Paraschak, Dan Craffey and Kent Uicker.

Another item identified as an expense that could be eliminated — at least for this year — was digital mapping. That provided a $25,000 savings in this fiscal budget. Digital mapping would have provided the town with more accurate tax maps.

“They decided to postpone it or to tackle it in increments,” Turpin said.

Money for services like the Naples Public Library and the Lakes Region bus was left intact, Turpin said.

“They tried not to touch things that would have an immediate impact on taxpayers,” he said.

During the regular meeting of the Naples Board of Selectmen this upcoming Monday, “the budget committee is supposed to appear with the selectmen to give a formal thumbs-up to the budget” changes, Turpin said. “We will go with Ephrem’s presentation. It cuts the dollar figure,” he said.

When the Special Town Meeting occurs on July 16, residents will only be required to vote on 10 items in the budget where reductions were made.