Selectboard -- Town of Princeton, Mass. – March 8, 2018 – 5:30 PM
– Meeting w/Adv. Cmte. in Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Jon Fudeman, Edith Morgan & Richard Bisk w/ TA Nina Nazarian. Adv. Cmte. members: Wayne Adams, George Handy, Judy Dino & Don Schoeny.
5:30 PM – Opened meeting for budget discussion
T.A. budget presentation – Nina N. distributed updated budget worksheets. New-growth revenue is pegged at $40,000 and the total budget comes in at $10.102 million. Adv. Cmte. asked about revenue from PILOT properties, which are mostly DCR-owned. There is about $2,000./year in revenue from rental of the town hayfields on Gates Road, which currently goes into the general fund, but likely needs to be diverted to a ConCom fund in the next fiscal year. As abatements won’t be processed until after the deadline of April 1, it’s unknown what effect they may have on the available funds in the reserve for abatement. Taxes went up an average of 6.7 percent in most recent collection.
George H. pointed out that school spending totals this year were the same as in 2013 and suggests that it’s gone down because of lower enrollments and changes in the (state) formula. He noted that the town has $750,000 in excess which could be added to the taxes without a Prop. 2 1/2 override.
Maintenance manager concept - Nina noted that she received help from volunteer Chris Conway to put together bids for the library roof repair. As Rich Breagy may retire soon, she is re-formulating the building inspector position and wants to consider wrapping it into a full-time position of a maintenance manager. This position would supervise existing staff and act as clerk of the works and as a construction/project manager. Nina explained that in 2015 she compiled a list of building repair projects and expected them to be done by now. The problem is that staff is not dedicated solely to facilities but gets pulled away for F.D. and DPW duties—some on a seasonal basis. Maintenance actually gets one F/T equivalent from two full-time staff when looking at the full picture (one staff member works year round, while
the other works full time 4 months in the winter).
Animal Control Officer – Nina reported that the regional ACO has claimed working 900 unpaid hours. Princeton has an intermunicipal agreement with Rutland, Barre, and New Braintree. Rutland is the lead on the IMA and the ACO’s direct employer.
Discussion on cost changes – The payment to Monty Tech is up because 24 Princeton students are enrolled there this year, up from 21 last year. Town is now paying rent to P.O. Place for the COA space, but the site lacks plumbing/kitchen and is therefore not ideal. Salaries are showing an increase at two percent and police union staff getting three percent, due to the four percent that they gave back in FY09 & 10. The total town proposed budget is up 4.64 percent from FY’18 to FY’19.
The Police Dept. roof is constantly getting patched, but may not be replaced if a new facility is approved. A technology grant from the state of $73,000 has been applied for, of which $45,000 is for a new integrated financial software. Jon F. asked how can the budget be cut to avoid a five percent increase every year. There are PBMLP funds left over, including sale of the equipment huts, and those funds must get transitioned over to the town’s general fund. Nina will investigate how can be done. Group anticipates getting funds reimbursed from Verizon to cover some funds spent by PMLD on make-ready, mainly upgrading poles, which Verizon co-owns. Phil Gransewicz asked about potential revenue from sale of real estate the
town owns, which was approved for sale by the last ATM. Phil also asked about Chapter 90 road construction funds.
The group asked for an update on Mechanics Hall insurance. The Selectboard agreed to have Jon and Nina make a decision on whether to insure the building for property issues (above and beyond its regular liability coverage). Jon will call Rick Wiles to get an understanding of what happens if we do not continue to insure for damage to the building.
Discussion turned back to the budget and the Selectboard noted that the requests were greater than could be funded by the town, especially considering other future costs. The Selectboard asked the TA to prepare a budget that presented no greater than 2.5 – 3% increase over FY18, not including schools.
7:30 PM Adjourned meeting
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, Admin. Asst. Referenced Documents: Budget worksheets
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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