Wiscasset Town Manager Arthur Faucher will investigate how the town ended up with overdrafts in three accounts, following questions Tuesday night be a former selectman.

Ben Rines, Jr., who has served as a selectman off and on for the last 20 years, appeared to have stumped selectmen when he asked how the town could have overdrafts in the June 30, 2006 audit printed in the current town report.

Rines expressed concern over an article in last week's issue, which included a suggestion by Faucher that the assessing account could be spent "into the red."

Reading from the town report, Rines said, there are three accounts that "were spent into the red: Public Safety, $5,900; TIF (Tax Increment Financing) $42,000; and Overlay, $45,000."

"I bring this up because it is standard practice to go to the townspeople when these overdrafts occur. Where did you get the authority to spend this money?" Rines asked.

"It is simply standard practice to go to town meeting" [to get the authority to spend the money].

"This is the first board I've known that ever overdrafted the Overlay account. I'm surprised the auditor didn't mention it. The selectmen are responsible for these accounts."

"Somebody - you - should have alerted the selectmen to this," Rines said, referring to the town manager.

Faucher said these accounts were already established when he began working for the town.

"Your suggestion was that this did not happen on your watch," Rines said. "When did you start?"

Faucher said he began in January of 2006.

"In a half a year's term, you should have come and reported this to the selectmen," Rines said.

Selectman David Nichols said, "We will research that and find out where it [the money] went and why it went."

Budget committee chairman Steve Mehrl said, "I too, have some concerns about the audit. I have no problem with the budget revenue side, just terminology. I think the auditor will be coming in to talk to us."

Mehrl said in the coming weeks, the townspeople will be needing a lot of information about how their school budget will be voted on, referring to school consolidation.

"It's a whole new ball game," Mehrl said.

Rines' comment came up during the public comment section of the meeting.

Another former selectman, Bill Barnes, complained that he has to live on a fixed income, but town officials recently gave out raises as high as 20 percent.

"I got a 2.7 percent raise," he said, referring to Social Security.

"Those raises were over a three and a half year period, and I don't think they amounted to 20 percent," Nichols said. Barnes said when he was on the board, the selectmen agreed to hold raises down to about two percent.

Referring to the raises, newly elected selectman Phil DiVece asked, "Was the budget committee consulted or brought in on this?"

"No, it was done in executive [closed] session," Nichols said.

"I think it would have been a good idea if the board of selectmen had sat down with the budget committee before approving these," DiVece said.

Faucher explained that there are several variables in employees' compensation, including whether or not they take the town's health insurance.

"Those employees who got adjustments were paid for performance," said Faucher. "One is not taking retirement [benefits]. Not everyone hears what they are leveraging to the town."

Former town employee Mark Johnson noted that some employees who do not take the town's insurance are paid $200 a month. Faucher said even with these payments, the town still saves about $10,000 a year.

In other action, the selectmen approved the warrant for the special town meeting on Thursday, February 7, to ask voters if they want to raise and appropriate slightly over $30,000 to pay assessing agent Sue Varney for the rest of the year, ending June 30. They also set prices for pens, key chains, and plaques made from the wood of the old schooners, and accepted the resignation of Kerry Leeman from the Budget Committee.