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State Budget
Puts Town in
Fine Shape |
By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
7/8/10
Town officials were anticipating having to explain to Town Meeting members why midyear budget cuts would be again necessary this year. The past two fiscal years, Selectmen have called midyear Town Meetings to readjust budgets in the wake of cuts to state aid.However, that may not be the case this year. According to officials, the town begins the new fiscal year with a budget that is slightly in the positive column.
“If everything remains the same, we are not going to have to have a budget adjustment article at [a fall] Town Meeting,” said Selectman John Shields. “It looks like we’re in really good shape.”
Although the state budget signed last week by Gov. Deval Patrick includes deep cuts to many programs and local aid, Milton appears to have come out of the budgetary process relatively unscathed.
According to Town Administrator Kevin Mearn, the town is actually $40,000 in the positive for the 2011 fiscal year.
“We’re in good shape. We’ve learned lessons from the past two fiscal years,” when unexpected midyear cuts from the state forced the town to quickly readjust budgets, said Mearn.
Mearn said a cautious approach to town budgeting this year paid off. Annual Town Meeting passed a conservative budget in May that did not anticipate much additional aid from the state, according to officials.
Warrant Committee Chair Tom Hurley said estimates were safe, and town officials planned early for less aid from the state.
“When we did our revenue projections we used the governor’s budget numbers and reduced them by 5 percent,” Hurley said in an e-mail. “We also used the governor’s numbers for state and county charge-backs. The final conference committee budget was slightly more than percent below the governor’s. However, the charge-backs in the conference committee’s budget [were] approximately $50,000 less than the governor’s number. The net result is we are about $40,000 to the good.”
A Special Town Meeting tentatively set for Sept. 20 would have dealt with returning the town to a balanced budget if cuts had impacted Milton.
Still, Shields said the town should not simply walk through the fiscal year with a blind eye.
“It’s an election year,” he said. “The economy is still recovering. You have to watch everything all the time, so you don’t get caught off guard.
“We’ve gone through two years now of the state cutting local aid, which is the lifeblood of a town like ours.”
Unlike some communities that rely on state financial aid for up to half of their budget, Milton’s state-aid apportion makes up just about 10 percent of its annual spending.
“We’re not as dependent on local aid,” said Shields, explaining how the town has for the most part skirted harmful cuts to personnel and services.
Nevertheless, the process of guessing how and when the state will come down with cuts has been a continuous challenge for local officials, according to Shields.
He said the state has often “taken the easiest way out” to solve its own budget dilemmas.
“I really wish the state government would prioritize local aid a little more than they have the past year and a half,” he said. |
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