By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
10/16/08

(previous)
State budget cuts could eliminate up to $1 million from the town’s state aid. In response town officials are moving to reconsider some spending.
The Selectmen held the emergency meeting to discuss the state aid cuts.
They considered the impact local aid cuts could have on the Oct. 20 Special Town Meeting, which includes articles for union contracts, new teachers and pay raises for department heads.
The School Committee is seeking about $150,000 for three new teachers. No one from the schools attended the Columbus Day meeting.
Selectman Chair Kathy Fagan said the town should prioritize its spending and called for a freeze on the articles that would expend the town’s free cash.
“We’re looking at a local aid cut of perhaps as much as 10 percent,” she said. “We have to look at what we feel is important and what we can do legally in terms of freezing hiring and promotions.”
She suggested closing town hall one day each week to save money on energy, saying that the town has to “cut everywhere else it can.”
“The more we can plan for it now without panicking people the better,” said Fagan.
Selectman John Shields said the town may also have to rethink a proposition 21/2 override for the spring. Property values in town have dropped by about 4 percent, according to recent assessors’ data.
“The planning may have to change if people don’t feel like their home values are going to go up,” said Shields.
The Warrant Committee has sent letters to the town department heads asking for budget forecasts that factor in the possible 10-percent cut in state aid.
Fagan said the town may need to hold another Town Meeting in a few months when there is a better understanding of the nation’s economic situation.
The Selectmen will consider each of the 10 warrant articles for the Special Town Meeting based on the current economic climate at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at town hall. They will make their own recommendations to Town Meeting.
A state ballot question to eliminate the state income tax could cost the town as much as $5 million in revenue, the Selectmen said