Morning Sentinel
PHILLIPS: White out as manager
BY BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 08/20/2008

PHILLIPS -- Phillips' town manager, after only two months on the job, has stepped down for personal reasons and not, he says, because of the controversial shut-down of the town by a few disgruntled voters at a town meeting in June.

Lynn White was on the job for only 10 days when the sparsely attended June 28 meeting closed down municipal operations. Concerned over an increasing tax rate, a majority of voters there rejected an article allowing the town to exceed the state tax cap by $256,000 for the next budget year.

Since the new budget year was to start July 1 -- three days after the meeting -- the vote meant all town services ended June 30.

In April, voters at a town meeting approved spending only through June 30 to allow selectmen time to convert the fiscal year from a calendar year to a July 1 to June 30 year.

On July 12, at a well-attended second town meeting, a majority agreed to exceed the cap once town officials provided an in-depth explanation of the costs to repair deteriorating roads, replace aging equipment and pay for fuel.

Looking back, White said, the short-lived controversy did refocus the community on the town's needs.

"I think a couple of things happened during that second town meeting. There was a larger showing of people who had an interest in the town beyond just the tax rate," he said. "They were looking ahead at what needs to be done with the infrastructure and they made the decision that what was being offered was realistic."

White, a Phillips native who came home to retire, is an engineer with a master's degree in business administration. His career experience includes turning troubled businesses into profitable ventures, so he wasn't daunted by the flare-up in Phillips.

"For us to move forward, we have to raise taxes to do the things we want to do," he said. "None of us like to pay taxes, but we need to look at the needs of the school system and our 43 miles of roads. Those two items forced the tax rate up dramatically."

The 2008-09 tax rate will be $16.05 for every $1,000 in property valuation. Last year's rate was $12.80, meaning the new figure would represent a jump of $3.25 per $1,000 in property value.

On Aug. 26, a special town meeting will seek voter approval of a $400,000 bond issue to begin addressing the road-repair issue.

"Lynn has done a great job and he hates the idea of having to leave," said Selectman Eric Kinney on Tuesday. "It was a tough time and Lynn kept right on working, without pay, even after the town was shut down, to answer people's questions and keep things going."

"This is a great community with good people," Kinney said. "It has just been an odd chain of events."

White will work part-time to help take care of day-to-day matters and assist Kinney and Selectmen Steve Charles and Jon Wilbur in running the town until a replacement is found. The salary range is around $40,000.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com

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