Town Joins School And Finalizes Budget

After nearly a month of budget hearings and some tough cuts, the Board of Selectmen joined the Board of Education and finalized its budget Thursday.

The result of the two budgets added together is a $74.41 million proposal, a 3.33 percent increase over last year’s $72.01 million appropriation. The total will go to Board of Finance, where further trimming is expected, and finally, in the spring, to the Representative Town Meeting for final approval.

“I think it is a fair, realistic budget,” First Selectman Dan Steward said.

The first selectman is responsible for the general government’s operation budget and the capital budgets, a $31.5 million total, up 2.3 percent.

Superintendent Jerome Belair, who just started on the job last week, felt confident about his budget as well. Overall the total was , up 2.99 percent from last year’s $41.67 million.

“I can stand behind and defend this budget,” he said.

The Board of Finance wanted the total budget to increase only 3 percent, which would have raised taxes 4.05 percent over last year, or $140 per year for the average taxpayer, board member George Peteros said. The Board of Finance will probably cut an additional 0.3 percent from the board of selectmen’s budget (which came in 0.3 percent higher than allocated) to get it down to that level, Peteros said.

Two Budgets, Two Strategies

Both the boards of education and selectmen had to face huge increases in health insurance and retirement, along with employee raises. To counteract those rises, the board of selectmen targeted jobs, while the board of education targeted raises.

The town side will have six fewer employees in general government than last year, Steward said. The expectation is the town will shed those jobs through retirement, not through layoffs, he said.

In the public works department, two positions are already vacant and will not be filled, Steward said. One other person has committed to retiring, and the town needs one more to retire to avoid a layoff, he said.

The town also plans to remove two positions from the recreation and parks department. So far, nobody has retired, but the expectation is at least two will, Steward said.

To increase the chance of getting people to retire, employees will be offered early-retirement incentive packages, Steward said. Thirty-six employees are eligible for those incentives, he said.

Fewer employees will mean less services, though, the first selectman said. However, two positions in public works became expendable with the new, single-stream recycling system, where machines pick up the containers, as opposed to workers.

But the other two lost positions in public works will mean the department might not be able to do the “extra jobs,” Steward said.

“Before, if I told them to go real quick and sand an intersection, it would happen,” he said. “Now, they might not have the extra guys around to do that.”

In recreation and parks, the loss of two positions will mean the schools will not be as well-maintained, Steward said. To fix that problem, seasonal workers and possibly a contract with a private landscaping company will be signed, he said.

“We can find cheaper alternatives,” he said.

Meanwhile, all town employees will receive some sort of raise, most slightly above 2 percent.

School Side

Conversely the Board of Education, led by former Superintendent Randall Collins, went another route. Six teachers were retiring, and three were not replaced. Also, all besides football were cut.

However, the big savings in the budget would come from a wage freeze of all six district unions. All six unions are due raises, and all must voluntarily give them up.

So far, the administrators union has agreed to a wage freeze, saving the board of education $35,000. The most important union, though, to accept the wage freeze is the teachers union, which is set to receive a 4.3 percent raise, Collins said.

The school board passed its budget on the assumption that the teachers, along with all the other unions, would accept the wage freeze. If the teachers do not accept the freeze, it will cost the district another $900,000, according to Assistant Superintendent Craig Powers.

To make up that difference, the district could lay off up to 20 teachers, Collins said. Belair agreed with that assessment.

“When your budget is almost all personnel, there really is no other place to go,” Belair said. “We are going to have to make some cuts.”

The teachers union has not yet voted on the freeze, Powers said.

Teachers union president Martha Shoemaker refused comment on whether the union would accept a wage freeze last month, saying the union was still discussing  the decision.

What is Next?

Starting in March, the board of finance will begin its budget review. The board of finance has more time to inspect the budgets, and will likely make more cuts, Steward said.

“They have a month to look at the numbers, and they question everything,” he said.

The board of finance will definitely make some cuts to the board of selectmen’s budgets, Peteros said. The board of education’s budget will probably be left untouched, he said.

At the board of finance meeting Wednesday, member William Sheehan suggested  asking for wage freezes from all town employees, mimicking what the board of education is doing.

The board did not act on that decision, although Peteros said it was being considered. The board will likely decide next month.