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TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
TUESDAY, April 8, 2008
- Override failed: (options)
- Option A is to make cuts equal to $448,000 (786,000-102,000-240,000 + 4,000).
- Option B is to make cuts equal to $248,000 and go for an override of $200,000 which is equal to what the Town agreed to and spent out of Free Cash last fall for the October STM.
- Option C is to make cuts equal to some other number less than $248,000 and have an override greater than $200,000.
- Option D is to go back and have an Override Equal to $448,000 which represents a level service budget but does not include any of the items contained in Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the ATM.
- Options A, B, and C require cuts to be made to municipal and school budgets, local revenue and potential revenue sources to be looked at and operational items to be reviewed as well.
- I presume whatever the cuts to be will be made on a 70%/30% basis with the School Department being 70% and the Municipal portion of the budget being 30%.
- On the Municipal Budget Front - I have met with department heads, sent emails to other boards and committees and we are looking at not replacing personnel, reducing hours for others, cutting already low expense budgets, and reducing hours of operations for other departments.
- The School Department is working on their budget and I have not yet seen what their plan is but the School Committee is meeting on Monday the 14th.
- Local revenue sources need to be reviewed, updated and implemented if necessary
- As for implementation of new revenue the Town could begin billing insurance companies for all ambulance calls and the Town could realize a savings in tax dollars at the bare minimum of $32,000. This number does not include insurance, fuel or any other overhead cost associated with the Ambulance. These costs are currently accounted for or absorbed by other departments.
The Board of Health needs to look at possibly implementing a stable fee with Town Meeting approval as allowed by MGL.
- Operationally we need to look at items like running a recycling and transfer station to see if it still makes sense and whether or not getting out of this business will be beneficial to the Town. We also have to look at our operations for energy efficiencies so that we can save money.
- Time Table for getting this done.
- This cannot all be done in the timeframe we have in order to go back to Town Meeting and another Town Election.
- The Town Election requires 35 days after the posting of an election warrant to be able to hold an election.
- I have asked the School Superintendent if he could have a brown bag lunch or an early release day on the 4th of June which means a warrant would have to be signed by the BOS on the 29th but the person that puts the warrant together will not be here for the 29th and so the warrant would have to be ready on the 22nd of April. This would mean that an override question or questions and dollar amounts would have to be ready and agreed to by everyone and especially the BOS.
- The School already has an early release day on the 11th and thus if this day is chosen then the warrant would need to be signed on May 5th and posted on May 6th.
- A Special Town Meeting requires 14 days for posting before you could hold the meeting.
- Taking into account Memorial Day weekend and the timeframe needed for voter registration, I suggest the 21st of May. This would allow the BOS to sign the warrant on the 5th.
- Everyone would have to have final numbers for the 5th and this means we would have solutions sooner and the process would not be allowed to drag on.
Finally, it is certain the voters said “NO” why they said no is less clear but we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best as we move forward. It is my intention to recommend changes that are thoughtful and appropriate.
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