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Community Corner

A Look Into The Abyss

What's In a Departmental Budget in Waterford

What is in a departmental budget in Waterford?  This Monday, March 21, 2011 the Waterford Board of Finance (BOF) will be considering twelve departmental budgets.  One of those budgets is the Recreation and Parks Commission budget request of $1,331,699.  This request is down $89,870 or 6.32% from the current (FY2011) budget of $1,421,569 (I have removed Community Use of Schools from the Rec and Parks budget since it has its own budget line this year.)

Waterford departmental budgets are divided into budget series – Personnel (51000); Services (52000); Materials and Supplies (53000) and Equipment (54000).

In the budget summary, the commission states that “There are no ”wants” included in the budget, but “needs” to accomplish our daily responsibilities.”  According to the Commission presentation, the commission has five governmental functions:  1)  Maintenance, operation, and development of all turf and garden areas in Town; 2)  Town sponsored recreational programs and leisure opportunities for all age groups; 3)  Primary liaison to various co-sponsored organizations such as Youth Football and Cheerleading; Little Leagues, and Youth Soccer as well as subsidize town non profit groups such as the Community Band and Waterford Week; 4)  Coordination of all athletic field and facility usage in Waterford; and 5) implementation of a limited youth service program.

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The Rec and Parks Commission also provides some information on how it has worked to restrain budgetary growth.  Some near term solutions listed are 1) Rescheduling and modifying summer swim programs; 2)  Modifying shifts of the gatehouse personnel at Waterford Beach; 3)  Returning outside school maintenance to the Board of Education; 4)  Using more volunteer members and equipment to reduce town costs; 5)  LED lights in the Community Center; 6) Collaborating with other southeast CT Rec Departments so program costs are split; and 6)  Sending information electronically and on the web to reduce mailing costs.  Some long term solutions are 1) an organic approach to ground maintenance; 2)  Staggering work schedules to reduce overtime costs;  3)  Developing a sponsorship program for concerts and special events; 4)  Encouraging support for the Waterford Parks Foundation to develop an outside source for capital projects; and 5)  Alternative sources of funding such as grants and donations.

Like most departmental budgets, the Rec and Parks Personnel series is the largest component of the budget at $1,004,999 (75.5%).  The Administration line which includes the salaries of the Director and Assistant Director is $153,570.  The Clerical/Technical (Office Workers) line is $72,849.  The Custodial line is $16,394.  Parks Maintenance Workers line is $415,736.  Recreation Program Personnel line is $229,000.  This line includes the Program Coordinator, Waterford beach personnel, summer playground personnel, swimming pool staff,  and community center building monitors.  Summer Jobs for Minors is a unique line in the Rec and Parks personnel series at $13,481.  This line provides a part time work opportunity for six Waterford Youth.  Rec and Parks is asking for $30,000 in Overtime for field preparation, snow removal, emergency call outs, and clerical support for Commission meetings.  The fringe benefits line of $2,745 provides required clothing and safety shoes and meals for certain Maintainers during the year.  The FICA line is .0765 of the $981,030 total of the previous lines to pay the employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare fees.  The overall personnel costs are down from the FY2011 $1,062,201 due to reductions is park maintenance, closure of the swimming pool during the construction of Waterford High School, and a decrease in overtime cost due to the removal of Board of Education properties from Rec and Parks responsibilities.

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The Services series request is $275,700 (20.7%).  The largest line is the maintenance of properties at $94,000.  This includes the sand, loam, clay, stone dust, grass seed, lime, fertilization, sod, red cedar mulch, plantings, parking lot fence and sign repair, soil testing, field equipment for baseball fields, tennis courts, and basketball courts, Port-A John Rentals, heat, water, sewer, electricity,  and other miscellaneous repairs and maintenance.  Programs are budgeted at $79,000.  This includes preschool programs such as arts and crafts, dance, tot gymnastics, and playgroups; youth programs such as creative writing, painting, cooking, music, various sport and fitness programs; adult programs such as arts and crafts, basketball, yoga, golf, Tai Chi, tennis, aerobics, and aqua fitness; some miscellaneous programs such as dog training, swing dancing, line dancing, belly dancing, and yoga at the beach; and special events such as a Fishing derby, Waterford Week, road races, and Tree lightings during Holidays.  Co-Sponsored programs line at $50,000 supports the Community Band; American Legion, Babe Ruth, and Little League baseball; Youth Football and Cheerleading; Pre-teen basketball; Softball; Soccer; Lacrosse; and Waterford Week .  A co-sponsored program is independent (generally a league or umbrella group) and relies on its own resources for funding and gets limited support from Town funds.  Service Contracts and Repairs at $45,000 includes some miscellaneous contracts for services such as welding, rodent control, fire extinguisher service, alarm systems, and operation of the Community Center.  The Rec and Parks portion for community center operations is $38,198. This is one half of the total cost.  Senior Services picks up the other half of the costs for the Community Center.  Advertising, Postage, Printing, telephone,   reimbursable expenses, and dues, conferences, and education make up the remainder of the 52000 services series.

Materials and Supplies request of $47,000 includes fuels and lubricants at $17,000, Vehicle Maintenance at $12,500, community center and other supplies of $16,500 and office supplies of $1,000.  It is of interest to note that when the Rec and Parks and the Senior Citizens budgets for the community center are combined, it costs $76,396 in service contracts and repairs, $75,456 for fuel and electricity,  and $8,554 in supplies to run the community center for a year

The final Equipment section is at $4,000 for the purchase of an over-seeder and top dresser used in field maintenance.

As part of the backup material for the budget the department provided data to show that for all programs in FY2010 that cost a total of $104,181, the commission collected $90,511 (an 87% recovery rate).  In FY2012, the commission expects to collect only $78,000 due to the pool shut down. 

 

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