Thursday, February 27, 2014

Town departments asked to slash budgets

Town departments asked to slash budgets

Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer


TEMPLETON— In anticipation of another budget crisis for Fiscal Year 2014, the Board of Selectmen has asked department heads to submit revised budgets with a 5 percent cut, complete with impact statements outlining exactly how the proposed cuts could potentially affect operations.

While not every budget was received, those that were read and reviewed Monday night painted an alarming picture of the town’s future. Most departments have already gone through several years of drastic cuts and level-funding, leaving their budgets at bare bones. For many, the only cuts to be made were in salary accounts.

“The low-hanging fruit has already been cut over the years,” explained Vice Chairman Kenn Robinson. “The bulk of these cuts will come in the form of salaries.”

“These people are sitting on the edge of their seats. We have long-term, dedicated employees,” said member Diane Haley Brooks.

Mr. Robinson also said the town would need to come to terms with whether they could continue to support a full-time government, or if they would need to drop down to part-time.

“Without some kind of override, we cannot support this staffing and the structure,” he said.



Departments such as the Board of Assessors and Parks and Cemetery Commission are already short employees. The hiring freeze enacted by the board has prevented positions from being filled and the additional cuts may jeopardize these departments further. Concerning the Board of Assessors specifically, Deputy Assessor Luanne Royer explained that her department has been running with one employee since June, however, an administrative assistant position will need to be filled in the next fiscal year due to upcoming evaluations and reviews.

Tax Collector Carolee Eaton and Conservation Commission Chairman George Andrews also reported their reductions would come in the form of hours and salary cuts.

For the Tax Collector, 5 percent of their remaining budget would result in over $1,100 coming out of both her and Assistant Collector Lyn Scerra’s salary accounts. The Conservation Commission’s Senior Admistrative Secretary’s already scant hours would be cut, impacting the public’s ability to get information and paperwork.

A cut to the Boynton Public Library’s budget, according to Director Jackie Prime, would potentially reduce operating hours, resulting in the loss of certification from the state and affecting residents’ ability to borrow from other libraries in the area. The Library Assistant’s hours would also be whittled down to three hours per week, and weekly class visits would be cancelled for the remainder of the school year due to understaffing.

For the Highway Department, Superintendent Francis “Bud” Chase put forward a flat 5 percent reduction across the board, trimming over $18,000 off the $363,333 available. The department is already deficit spending for snow and ice costs, which will come out of Fiscal Year 2014’s certified free cash amount. The cuts were found in the department’s salaries, maintenance, highway expenses, and fuel costs and according to Mr. Chase will drastically affect their ability to repair damaged infrastructure in the town, purchase necessary gas and oil, and repair the department’s fleet of vehicles.

Perhaps the most urgent statement came from Fire Chief Raymond LaPorte, who drafted a two-page letter outlining the various ways the 5 percent cut would affect the Fire Department. According to Chief LaPorte, the department has already gone through a series of drastic cuts since FY12. At the beginning of FY13, their budget was further reduced by 12-and-a-half percent, resulting in a loss of $34,000, which, the Chief said, the department worked through. Including the proposed 5 percent cut mandated by the board and the Advisory Board recommending an additional 12 percent be taken off for FY15, the department will be left at just two-thirds of what it was operating at two years ago, with devastating consequences.

The department would no longer be able to cover certain fixed, annual costs incurred each year, such as certifying their equipment for use in immediately dangerous to life and health environments, and testing their ladders and self-contained breathing apparatuses. Only basic maintenance would be performed, leading to a reduced shelf life of equipment that cannot be replaced.

In order to offset the impact of some of these cuts, Chief LaPorte plans to use the Ambulance Service, which generates revenue. He proposed increasing and improving the advanced life support service and purchasing a new ambulance with funds reserved for an appropriation account to improve the Ambulance Service’s revenue streams.

While the cuts would nearly cripple his department, Chief LaPorte made it clear he is willing to work with the board and implement the changes necessary to help the town through this difficult financial situation.

“First of all, we work for you and the taxpayers of Templeton,” he wrote in his impact statement. “And whatever we need to do to accomplish the goals of the town we will do.”

Ms. Brooks, who requested copies of the department budgets and impact statements at the last select board meeting, was disappointed that not every department was cooperative and gave the remaining departments until the end of the week to submit their work for review at the next meeting. As the budgets are received, they will be made available to the public and posted on the town’s website. Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel said he will be meeting with department heads on Thursday morning to discuss budgets and ways to reduce costs.
 


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Impact Statements 

9 comments:

  1. "The low hanging fruit has been cut over the years".

    I thought you knew where the budget could be cut without any layoffs Kenn?

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  2. Unless the selectmen can dig up more cash or an override to go along with these cuts, the 5% won't be nearly enough to fill the gap. The budget is short 11% and trying to make up that much of a shortfall in the last 2-3 months of the fiscal year would require significantly larger cuts.

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  3. Here we go again. The Selectmen are asking Dept. Heads for cuts. It appears they can't see the forest because of the trees.
    There are a lot of smart Taxpayers in town, so let help them out. Everyone sees potential cost saving steps that can be done, but don't dare to come foward for one reason or another.
    I propose a the following, combine the Hyway Dept and the Parks/Cemetary Dept. (DPW) with only one Supervisor. (Savings of $50000 or more). It's great that they help out, but thats not there function. They need to supervise workers to make them more efficiant not run equipment. You have people to run equipment at a lower salary.
    What's your Idea? Can you save some money?

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    1. I think it is time to seriously pursue combining positions and consolidating departments. Like Mike said, the proposal by the Selectmen for 5% won't close the gap. We can't continue to use free cash. The only choices are to pay more taxes or re-design the organization of departments in order to properly fund what Templeton needs. Across the board cuts are not the way to go, in my opinion. For example, we cannot cut the library in any meaningful way. The budget is ridiculously low as it is. Silos need to come down, departments need to share personnel in some cases and that will require the cooperation of the departments.

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    2. I agree with your comment Mark. Once the dust has settled on the current budget crisis, there may be time to look into a DPW, which in my opinions would be a great way to share resources and personnel.

      Outsourcing some services and combining other departments are other options.

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  4. There is ALWAYS fat that can be cut from the top, Starting with the school dept. and working your way down. To see Grader pushing snow at the hubb. line last week was just a total waste of gas and time. If it's that slow at work that you need to push snow that fell a week previous, maybe you could just send that employee home and save some more money.

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    1. Well, Do is stupid, did you ever think there was a good reason the highway dept. had to use the grader ?? It could be most of the junk Bud has to use to get his job done broke down. I have a pretty good idea why he sent a machine there. Without making a hole in the banking, if we get rain, there is no place for the water to go, creating a bigger problem. The water was over two feet deep at the bottom of the hill by the brook, for the same reason. Bud and his men do a super job considering what they have to use for equipment. I agree that we need to consolidate, but it is a stretch to say most of our departments have any "fat". If you want to see fat, look at the Light Department, now that is fat !! It is too bad they are untouchable, and people are fooled by thinking they are doing anything for the people in this town. Bev.

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    2. I understand the people on the Advisory Board had a go round with the members of the Board of Health the other night. I know that the BOH has a lot of power, but the taxpayers still pay the way. It is beyond me why these guys think they do not have to do any real work, while being on that board ?? As I have said before, when I was a member of the BOH, we ran rabies clinics, checked on complaints, did inspections, and most anything else that was needed. Hiring a part time person, came only when the building boom was picking up, and we needed extra help. Things can be managed on a part time basis, if that is what it takes to get us on track. Bev.

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    3. After giving some thought to the issues with the BOH, I want to mention that they have a very competent woman working for them. Mrs. Morrisson is more than capable to take care of most of the matters that come up on a daily basis. Things are tough, but they could be so much worse. What would we do if we were responsible for paying for 252 ?? Just think, we could still be paying for the "municipal golf course" we needed like a hole in the head, but still spent $7,500.00 to have it appraised, anyway!! What would we do if we had not made the changes to the budgets, that we had made in the last couple of years ?? The only thing that is holding us back is the cost of the debt, and all of the interest we have to pay until hell freezes over, at least it seems like that. Do not get sucked into thinking that this board has created the problems we are faced with today. The problems took a good long time to reach the level we are at right now, as a matter of fact, it seems like someone planned to financially ruin the town, and has done a pretty good job of it. Oh, maybe that is my imagination, but I doubt it. This is my opinion, based on knowledge, a good memory and fact. Bev.

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