TWENTY-SIXTH MEETING March 24, 2005
PRESENT: E. Innes, D. Biagiotti, W. Connors, L. Dee, K. Hodlin, M. Kelly, T. Lowney, B. Mason, N. Monroe, R. Musto, E. Redo, J. Tarvin, C. Winston and K. Conlon
ABSENT: M. Ellis
RESERVE FUND BALANCE: $251,859
Chair Innes called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.
Chair Innes distributed a spreadsheet entitled “Comparison for Final Vote 3.23.05”.
The Chair reported that School Committee member Glenn Pavlicek had clarified that twenty-five (25) net layoffs would result from a budget that is $1.5 million over level dollar funding; of the thirty-nine (39) positions that would be lost from the request, fourteen (14) were new positions. The School Committee anticipated that an additional 5 layoffs would result from the budget recommended by the Committee at the previous evening’s meeting.
The Chair read a letter from Town Administrator David A. Colton dated March 24, 2005. The Committee discussed the issues raised by the letter.
Kathryn Fagan-Bauer, Chair of the Trustees of the Milton Public Library, addressed the Committee with respect to the anticipated Fall 2005 debt exclusion override election for the library building project and the Trustees’ concern that an operating override election could negatively impact the outcome of the library override election.
Following discussion, the Committee voted 12-0-1 not to recommend an over-the-levy-limit budget.
The Committee voted 8-5-0 to re-open the Committee’s vote of March 23, 2005.
A motion to (a) transfer $50,000 from the School Department budget to the Fire Department budget and (b) re-distribute $100,000 that had been added to the Police Department budget on March 23, 2005 to the Fire Department budget, with the net effect of the Fire Department budget increasing by $250,000 over level-dollar funding and the Police Department budget increasing by zero over level dollar funding, was defeated by a vote of 5-8-0.
The Committee voted 7-6-0 to recommend the following FY 2006 budgets: School Department $27,283,176; Police Department $5,230,158; Fire Department $3,833,829.
The Committee voted 11-2-0 to recommend that any additional funds up to $500,000 that become available prior to the May 2005 Annual Town Meeting be appropriated to the School Department, in the absence of an unforeseen circumstance.
The Committee voted 12-0-0 to ask the Chair to respond to the Town Administrator’s March 24 letter and specifically to address the dollar numbers cited in the letter.
Following a brief discussion of budget questions raised by Town Meeting Member and former Selectman John Michael Shields, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
RESERVE FUND $330,789
Accounting Set-Aside $750
School Department Set-Aside $78,180
RESERVE FUND BALANCE $251,859
The next meeting of the Warrant Committee will be on Monday, March 28, 2005, at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Katie Conlon
Secretary
March 28, 2005
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