Bar Harbor Funding in Question: Library, Y, and Other Nonprofits Seek Increases; Island Explorer Hopes for Status Quo
Decreased amounts of cruise ships impacting town budget and some nonprofits
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Edward Jones Financial Advisor: Elise N. Frank.
BAR HARBOR—A decrease in cruise ship revenue due to less ships visiting Bar Harbor and increased need from local and regional nonprofit agencies came up multiple times as Bar Harbor discussed its budget last night.
According to Bar Harbor’s Existing Conditions Report (2022) concerning cruise ship fees, “According to data provided by the Town of Bar Harbor, the town collected a total of $5,066,348 between fiscal year 2010 and 2018 with nearly $885,000 in fees collected in FY 2018.”
The Bar Harbor Historical Society had an increased request for town support and during discussion, councilors and warrant committee members learned that the nonprofit which hosts free events and preserves the town’s history expects to lose $50,000 in revenue that’s associated with those visitors.
Another potential impact is the Island Explorer—a free, public bus system which the town has used cruise ship revenue to help fund.
Outside requests from agencies, nonprofits, and large hospital systems filled up 2.5 hours of a joint meeting of Bar Harbor’s town council and warrant committee and some of the requests touched on how the lack of cruise ship revenue is impacting the town’s budget and their bottomline.
Five outside agencies requested $859,305 from the town voters. Four combined for a requested a 12% increase from $490,217 to $548,761. Cooperating agencies, a separate category, combined for just over $168,000 in requests. The overall proposed budget is currently at just over $28 million, an approximate 6.7% increase with all the requests flat-funded or decreased.
The current tax rate is $10.04. The proposed rate is $10.71. For a property owner with a median home value of $522,350, the total annual tax would be $5,597 a year. That would be an increase of $352 for that median home owner.
That proposed draft budget handed out by Town Manager James Smith for recreation and other agencies is flat funded from last year, except for the Island Explorer which was funded at a decrease due to a lack of cruise ship revenue.
Prior to each discussion, councilors and warrant committee members disclosed if they were on the board or employees or had family members that were employees of the organization.
THE REQUESTS:
ISLAND EXPLORER
The Island Explorer bus system has asked for a total of $310,544. Last year, it was funded from the cruise ship funding at $94,106. However, this year, because of an expected decrease in money coming in from cruise ships because of changes to the town’s ordinance, that $94,106 is proposed to be $25,000.
The $216,438 that funds the bus service via parking revenue is proposed at staying at that level. Parking meters and cruise ships have funded it via two revenue streams.
If the town follows the flat funding ask, it’ll be shifting that cost to the taxpayers. The county does not contribute though there is a stop at the airport in Trenton. Council Chair Valerie Peacock joked that if the county did help fund the Island Explorer, it would still be Bar Harbor funding it. This is because towns pay the county’s budget.
The Island Explorer has a downtown circulator route in Bar Harbor, Bucksport, and Ellsworth.
Executive Director of Downeast Transportation Paul Murphy spoke to the request. He asked for the town to continue to flat fund the service. He also thanked the town for past support.
Island Explorer has not been spared the impact of inflation, costs have increased 34% since four years ago, he said. A proposed 22% cut in funding would have impact.
He said he understood the funds meant to be cut come from cruise ship revenue. The decrease in cruise ship visits will hopefully decrease crowding in busses, but the overall increase of visitation still needs bussing, he said. Visitor housing has shifted and increased off island and those visitors are driving to the park and to Bar Harbor, he explained.
About 20% of the rides are from residents throughout Mount Desert Island, Murphy said. They serve all of the towns and ferry terminals and they all contribute to the system. He said he hoped other towns would also contribute more.
The national park covers 72% of the Explorer’s budget. L.L. Bean also contributes.
“Bar Harbor is one of the best funders of public transportation in the entire state,” Murphy said.
“You kind of are our island-wide monorail,” Councilor Matthew Hochman said. “I’d like to see I.E. expand even more.”
Warrant Committee member Carol Chappell asked why the bus system was free. There are many teens on the island, she said, who could afford to pay a fare.
There had been a fee for some routes in the past, but the thought was that paying a fare might be an impediment. To see if this was true, Friends of Acadia replaced the $3k in fares with funding, allowing all routes to be free. Ridership increased by 600% the next year. The system collects about $50k a year in donations from riders.
CHAMBER EVENTS
One of those outside agencies under the recreation budget was the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce (listed as community events), which requested a 3.2% increase for village holiday events, seaside cinema, and July Fourth celebration. That funding totals $24,000.
Hochman said he’d love to see the village holidays in December make the town look as good as it does on the Fourth of July.
Chamber Executive Director Everal Eaton said it is an interest for the chamber to do so.
Chappell asked if the Chamber is a member of APPLL. That organization is part of a lawsuit in federal court about the town’s cruise ship passenger disembarkation limits.
Eaton said the chamber has been a member in the past. He also said that the chamber is asking money for the three community events.
Town Councilor Randy Sprague said the three events are great for the townspeople. “I think it’s really wonderful what you’re doing.”
Eaton said the increase of $740 was to cover inflation. Warrant Committee members Eben Salvatore and Steven Boucher are on the chamber board.
BAR HARBOR BAND
The Bar Harbor Band’s request was put into the budget as $12,005, which was the same as last year. There was no representative of the band and Town Clerk Liz Graves was unable to get a response from a representative. The band plays weekly concerts at the Village Green during the season.
JESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY
The library has asked for $312,756, a 3% increase from $304,952. Library Director Matt DeLaney represented the library, which he said was thriving and growing in all of its areas. The money requested is for operations, not for expansion. The library’s expansion was paid for by fundraising.
Over 4,000 Jesup card holders are Bar Harbor residents and over 1,000 visit the library each week, he said.
“The library is doing more with less,” he said. At the end of 2023, the library presented a report that he said showed the library was funded at lower levels than others across the state. The report showed libraries with various structures. Some were part of municipalities. Some were quasi-governmental.
“In 2024 we had our most successful annual appeal to date,” DeLaney said. It is precisely when household budgets get tighter that the demand for the service gets larger.
“I think there’s a desire to connect,” after COVID, DeLaney said. It’s one of the few indoor spaces that you can go to without having to pay. They register about 50 new card holders every month even if the population isn’t growing. People are also excited about the library’s addition.
The library’s new wing will open at the end of this year and impact the library’s budget in 2026.
Hochman spoke of the library and town’s partnership and how nonprofits he’s on the board of look forward to using the space. Like DeLaney, he spoke of the library’s multiple users.
“I think it’s a reasonable request,” Hochman said, “for the return on investment.”
Peacock said she was thankful for the library and its programs. “It feels like an extension of my living room when I’m in there.”
Warrant Committee Chair Chris Smith is on the board of the library.
MDI YMCA
The YMCA asked for a 33% increase from $150,000 to $200,000. Executive Director Ann Tikkanen represented the YMCA as did YMCA Board President Steve Gurin and YMCA Board Secretary Scott Hammond.
“It’s really a life saver to have the YMCA,” Hammond said. He said the entire enterprise is devoted to community service. “We have story after story of changed lives.”
Councilor Randy Sprague said that when he drove by the Y that afternoon, he was impressed by how many cars were parked in its lot and how busy it was.
Warrant committee members Steven Boucher and Eben Salvatore are on the Y’s board of directors.
COOPERATING AGENCY REQUESTS
Multiple cooperating agencies have asked for a combined total of $168,514, a 122% increase. Not all agencies requested higher levels. The proposed budget has them all flat funded.
The SPCA’s $2,000 request was for community outreach. They are 100% community funded, but have not been funded in Bar Harbor
Other larger increases came from the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, Bar Harbor Historical Society, Island Housing Trust, MDI Nursing Association, and Northern Light Homecare.
The largest increase request was the Bar Harbor Historical Society. The nonprofit’s request went from $2,500 to $75,000. That is 15% of the society’s operating expenses. The money would be for collections storage and climate system as the organization works to protect Bar Harbor’s past from insects, molds, and mildew.
“They represent our roots, our heritage and our really unique culture that is in Bar Harbor,” Executive Director Erin Cough said. “We’re creating an anchor in town that’s spreading its history across it.”
Cough said the money would also support the multiple free programs that it offers. Its grounds are also free to access. All the programs at the historic society are free. That includes oral histories, stage productions, in-depth community educational opportunities. The society also works with the fourth-grade curriculum with maps and COA and other colleges come through as interns. The society welcomed over 10,000 last year.
“There’s no park pass you have to pay for,” Cough said. People can park in the group’s lot on West Street and watch the sunset and they can stroll the grounds for free.
Of its 305 members, 41% come from Bar Harbor, 70% come from MDI.
“You’re creating roots. You’re creating a sense of belonging in a town that’s been deeply divided,” Cough said.
They expect to lose approximately $50,000 in revenue because of lack of cruise ships this year, Cough said.
Chappell asked why this large request was put in the middle of funding from other agencies that are meant to help people survive in the community.
“We aren’t the food pantry. We aren’t the Red Cross. We aren’t hospice,” Cough agreed, but stressed that the work of the society was important to Bar Harbor. “If you don’t have a heart and soul, you don’t have a healthy community.”
While the society might not be able to feed people or work the body, it creates a sense of community that nourishes the soul, Cough said.
Hochman said it belongs in the recreation budget with the band and Jesup and Y. The band nourishes the need for music, and the society nourishes the need for history, he said.
The staff has applied for 15 grants recently and received five. There is currently a huge call and need for grants, she said. They have 5 employees and 20 volunteers who work on the grounds.
Councilor Maya Caines asked what are the things that would be the most pressing to get done.
“Collections are the heart and soul of our mission,” Cough said.
Councilor Earl Brechlin is on the society’s development committee but not its board any longer. Warrant Committee member Shaun Farrar’s stepdaughter worked at the society this year.
The Bar Harbor Food Pantry has been increasingly serving more people, more often. It served over 1,300 households last year and food costs were over $200,000 last year. The requested increase is to $12,000, which is to what other towns pay in total, though Bar Harbor residents use it more. Everything the town contributes goes to food costs. The pantry’s peak number a week is 300 visits. It has purchased the former Mama DiMatteo’s building in downtown Bar Harbor to handle that increased need.
In a 2024 press release, the pantry said, “Since 2022, the number of households seeking assistance from the pantry has more than doubled, and this figure is on track to double again in 2024. This surge in demand has stretched the capacity of our current space, particularly the dry and cold storage areas, resulting in shortages of staple goods for our customers and higher costs for the pantry. The pantry's staff and volunteers have been grappling with this situation in the basement of the YWCA, our home, for over 25 years.”
Brechlin asked if seasonal workers put an additional strain on the pantry. Director Tom Reeve said that they do. This summer it was constant restocking.
“Our numbers seasonally fluctuate. Come April, we spike up and sort of stay up there in October,” Reeve said.
Brechlin asked if small businesses support the pantry. He also disclosed that he has a relative who works at the pantry.
Reeve said the vast majority of its funding was from businesses and individuals.
Northern Light Homecare asked for a 104% increase from $4,000 to $8,172.
MDI Campfire Coalition and Eastern Agency on Aging, and Downeast Community Partners all asked for less.
WIC asked for $1850 to cover its 37 residents. WIC is not completely federally funded.
SMITH SELECTED
Before the joint meeting, the Bar Harbor Warrant Committee nominated Vicky Smith to fill Meg Kelly’s seat after committee members nominated all three candidates.
Smith, Gary “Bo” Jennings, and Kristen O’Connell all indicated a desire to fill Kelly’s seat until June. At the June election, voters will choose someone to fill Kelly’s seat as well as five other seats that are up for election. The warrant committee’s nominating committee had chosen O’Connell, who is a doctor at Jax and moved to Bar Harbor in 2016. Jennings is the Bar Harbor Chamber board president and operations manager at Side Street Cafe.
On her warrant committee application, Smith wrote, “Now that I am retired, I have the time to put energy into my hometown. Would like to contribute in assisting the town in making decisions on Bar Harbor's future.”
She had been on the Bar Harbor Food Pantry board for 13 years from 2001-2014, and was a creator and co-director of the MDI Backpack Program. She volunteered weekly for the Connors Emerson School between 2002-2011. She also fundraised to help remove vehicles that were dumped on Little Cranberry Island.
Kelly had been appointed to the Bar Harbor Town Council to fill a seat there until June. Both Kyle Shank and Gary Friedmann had resigned. Shank is moving out of state for his job and family. Friedmann was elected to the state house and wanted to focus on that duty.
In a three-way vote Smith had initially gathered six votes, Jennings took five, and O’Connell received three. There was then a run-off, where Smith prevailed. A majority of the fourteen member board was required to be appointed.
The group expressed gratitude to all three candidates who stepped forward, and Liz Graves committed to reaching out to the other two candidates to encourage them to run for the open Warrant Committee seats in the upcoming June election.
“All three of you folks are great,” Vice Chair Julie Berberian said. “It was tough.”
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To watch
https://www.townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=37&id=64397
Disclosure: Shaun Farrar is an elected member of the warrant committee because of that he has not proofread this article. Apologies for any typos. My oldest daughter was employed by the Bar Harbor Historical Society this past year.
All photos: Carrie Jones/Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story
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