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| Winchendon Town Manager James Kreidler in his office last month ((T&G Staff File Photo/CHRISTINE PETERSON)) |
george.barnes@telegram.com
WINCHENDON — Hoping to clear up what he said are misunderstandings surrounding a large deficit in the town budget, Town Manager James M. Kreidler Jr. said at a news conference Monday afternoon there are three simple fundamental truths about the matter.
First, he said, there is no money missing. Second, the town accountant does not work for the town manager, and third, he will have a plan to deal with the budget gap.
Last week the Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 to ask Mr. Kreidler to resign. He refused and because two selectmen supported him, the board could not force him to step down. At least four votes are needed to force his resignation.
Mr. Kreidler said he plans to continue as town manager and is developing a plan to fix the deficit, which he thinks is $2.3 million, but Selectman Blair Jackson said could be as much as $5 million.
At the news conference, in Town Hall auditorium, Mr. Kreidler said the attacks leveled at him are the same kind he has experienced every time his contract comes up for renewal.
"There's a core group of people. I don't know if they are a large group or a small group, but they are a loud group that have opposed my service in town for a number of years," he said.
Mr. Kreidler said a misinformation campaign is being done by people who should know better.
"It has become obvious that their interest is not in telling the true story, but telling a story," he said. "Bottom line is that their goal is to tell a story that maligns me and my performance regardless of the truth."
The town manager said people should understand that regardless of what some people are saying, the town's deficit is not because any money is missing. He said it is because former Town Accountant Charlotte Noponen-Gallant paid for legitimate health care bills without having enough money in the account.
"It's a very sexy thing that plays out well in the public eye to suggest there is money missing, that there is a deficit and there is money missing," he said. "It's not the case of money being in an account and it is now gone. It's unfortunate when the negativity comes over the facts."
Mr. Kreidler said the reason for the deficit was that the account was underfunded at a time when there was a significant increase in the number of medical bills submitted by employees in the plan. The bills were paid but there was not enough money available to pay them.
The system is set up so that the town is only liable for individual claims up to $70,000. When it was set up and for many years, three such major claims per year were made. In the past 18 months, the town saw 13 such claims. At the same time, not enough money was going into the account to pay the bills, but the bills were being paid.
But Mr. Kreidler said he was not being told of the growing deficit. He said budget reports showed the town in the black.
In October 2012, he said, he learned from Mrs. Noponen that there was a deficit of $200,000 at the end of fiscal 2012, which ended June 30 of that year. That was expected to be dealt with using money set aside as a deposit.
The town believed by the end of fiscal 2013 it was in the black or close to it. It wasn't until a new accountant, Donna Allard, was hired and books were audited that the full extent of the problem was discovered, he said. He said he learned what had been discovered at a meeting in July with the state Department of Revenue.
"Budget reports I was given every year ended in the black," he said.
Mr. Kreidler said the accounting practice employed by Mrs. Gallant was not illegal.
To close the deficit, Mr. Kreidler said, he has a few options, including short-term operational changes and targeted budget cuts, long-term structural changes, possible use of the town's reserve money or a Proposition 2½ override, which he said is unlikely to happen because it is unlikely to be supported.
The town departments have been asked to look at possible ways to cut this year's budgets and to make changes in how the town's employees are insured.
The reserve money that could be tapped to help pay down the deficit includes the town's stabilization fund, normally saved for emergencies and other than normal purchases. Mr. Kreidler said there is $1.6 million in the fund. If the town take a large portion of the fund, he said, he would pledge to pay it back with $255,000 per year. The money will be available because the town is retiring debt.
Mr. Kreidler said there also may be close to $550,000 available after landfill capping costs are paid off.
A last resort would be to pay for the budget gap by requesting the state Legislature to authorize the town to borrow from the state to pay for the deficit.
Contact George Barnes at george.barnes@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgebarnesTG
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