Here’s a riddle for you – what comes with spring and daffodils? Budget season of course! And it’s that time of the year. Like every other town, Colchester is being faced with very difficult decisions – ones not made easily or lightly.
As you can imagine cuts have been made – deep ones. But, this week I want to talk about two new positions that I am proposing we add. You might be asking yourself, “how can she do that in these times?” It does indeed seem counterintuitive, but they are for long term gain.
Part of building a budget is looking at revenues. The revenue picture both this year and next is not good, nor does it look much better for the year afterward. So, one of the areas focused on is “how do we increase revenues?” We’ve increased user fees in several areas and are looking at others. But that doesn’t result great revenue increases, so we turned our focus to our primary area of revenue – tax collection.
With a collection rate of less than 98%, our tax collector knew she could do better. By adding additional help to her office, she has brought in revenues that far exceed the cost of the additional hours and have us rapidly approaching the 98% goal. Next year we propose to make those hours permanent. By reallocating the $2,956 currently used for a per diem clerk who works about 200 hours per year and adding an additional $12,002, we will be able to hire a part-time tax collections clerk and increase the possibility of gaining additional revenue through delinquent and current tax collection that far exceeds the total $14,958 spent.
We then looked at our greatest increases in expenses. Combined, employee health insurance and workers’ compensation add up to an increase of $276,189. Even with this increase, our workers’ compensation increase was significantly reduced when we agreed to work with the insurance company and broker to implement an aggressive risk management program. Research and data shows that well designed employee wellness programs can significantly reduce employee health insurance increases just as solid risk management programs can reduce workers’ compensation costs.
While several of us work to ensure that these programs are carried out, we need to specifically designate one person with the skills and abilities to work with the insurance companies, staff, and those of us overseeing the program to ensure that it is carried out. The end goal is to decrease the continued increases. That said, we combined three positions – Health Clerk, Town Safety Officer, and a grant funded public health preparedness position – into one, Public Health Coordinator. Of the $38,512 salary, $14,066 will come from the first two positions, leaving an additional $24,446 to be funded when grant funding expires in August. This person is also responsible for ensuring that the Town meets OSHA and other health and safety requirements.
So, yes – a slight increase in costs for positions; very specific increases focused on increasing revenues and reducing expenses for the long-term, not just year.
Just a reminder to mark your calendars for the Annual Town Budget meeting on May 5th at Town Hall, 7:00 p.m. and the Annual Referendum on May 12th also at Town Hall from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Happy spring!
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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