Winchendon voters to consider $16 million in budget requests Monday night

By Paula J. Owen Telegram & Gazette Staff 

WINCHENDON — Voters will consider requests for $11 million for the town's operating budget and $5.2 million for the school department at town meeting Monday night.

Town meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Murdock Middle-High School, 3 Memorial Drive.

This town meeting comes after the annual and recall elections earlier this month when voters replaced all selectmen with new candidates after recalling selectmen Elizabeth Hunt and Fedor Berndt.

The group “Stand Up for Toy Town” headed up recall efforts following the discovery of a $3.8 million deficit that required cuts to the town and school budgets in this fiscal cycle and the passing of deficit legislation. The group alleged selectmen did not listen to voters who wanted them to hold off on renewing former Town Manager James M. Kreidler Jr.’s contract in the middle of the debacle, until more information was received. On April 6, voters overwhelming approved buying out Mr. Kreidler’s contract 294-93 for nearly $300,000 that ran through June 30, 2018, following a heated special town meeting Nov. 24, when voters approved firing Mr. Kreidler in a secret ballot 290-135. His last day was May 1.

Selectmen supported Mr. Kreidler throughout the ordeal and said they had no cause to fire him. They said he was not responsible for the town’s financial distress.

Selectman Michael Barbaro, who left the School Committee after 11 years to take the post, said officials learned at a meeting with the Department of Revenue Thursday night, the deficit is larger than originally thought. It is closer to initial estimates made last year by the DOR, he said.

“We found out we’re another $1 million to $1.2 million in the hole,” Mr. Barbaro said.

He said there will be cuts to staffing in the school department in addition to cuts made mid-year to reduce the deficit including four teachers. The total school budget is $16. 5 million — $4.9 million of it is the town's minimum contribution required by the state and there is $307,000 requested in additional funding.

Selectman Barbara L. Anderson, a member of Stand Up for Toy Town, said the requested fiscal 2016 town budget is $1.7 million over this fiscal cycle’s because the town is dealing with “real numbers” that the DOR said departments must stick to.

In previous years, she said, voters were not presented with a balanced budget because several departments routinely ran deficits and money would be shifted around mid-year.

Of concern, she and Mr. Barbaro said, are requests in the warrant for funding for the senior tax work off program and a non-profit agency in town from free cash, but there is no free cash available.

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