By Scott MacKeen
Contributor
5/15/08
The long anticipated vote on the override referendum faced defeat at the May 8 Town Meeting: this means there will be no override ballot in June.
On Thursday, Town Meeting members accepted a motion made by Selectmen Chair Kathryn Fagan on Tuesday to put aside the Warrant Committee’s recommended contingent budget that would have required an override.
Selectmen and the School Committee had urged this action not because the town and the schools do not need additional funding, they say, but because of their concerns that residents would not support an override this year because of questions about the national economy. They also expressed concerns that they were unprepared to mount an effective override campaign in time for a June vote.
By a margin of 141 to 80, members voted against an override.
The decision means that the town and schools face budget cuts, but changes in funding for public safety, while remaining tight, will be at levels that assure that police and fire officials can do their jobs, according to town officials. The decision also means cuts in teachers, the curtailing of some school programs, and other cost-saving measures in the schools, but with some additional funding promised during the meeting, school officials say they can live with the situation this year. (See presentation on pages 26 and 27)
Finally, the decision means that town officials will embark on a long campaign to build support for an override next year.
As a result of lengthy debate, only three warrant articles were addressed at the session.
Town meeting members on both sides of the override issue voiced their concerns. Some spoke in favor of the Warrant Committee’s recommendations, arguing that the town has not been doing enough to fund police, fire and public works programs in recent years and that further cuts would put town officials in a precarious positions going forward with collective bargaining with unions.
“It’s hard to believe there will be no additional funds for fire and police in negotiations going forward,” said member Ann White, pointing to the fact that a non-contingent budget would mean no set aside funding for pay raises for the police and fire departments.
“If we can’t afford to gives raises, this will put us in a poor bargaining position in the year to come,” member Mary McNamara added.
Warrant Committee Chair Kathleen Conlon stressed that a budget without an override would not provide enough money to maintain the same level of police and fire services as this year, but some town officials later disputed this at the meeting.
“This is not a lot of money, and I don’t want to have to depend on luck when it comes to our safety,” member Frank Giuliano responded. “It concerns me that we have to be talking about further cuts to our police and fire departments when we should be talking about how to better supply them. We faced enough cutbacks last year with the (fire department).”
“Last year, we didn’t do enough to fund (police and fire), and we are likely to see the same thing happen this year if we don’t get an override,” Conlon added.
However, Fagan suggested that $70,000 would be moved from the $320,000 set aside for medical funds of injured firefighter Tony Pickens and added to the fire department operating budget, which would ease the shortfalls that surfaced this year requiring some shifts to operate without a full complement of firefighters and engines.
Last week Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation enabling the town to borrow money to pay the firefighter’s medical bills for FY 08. However, new legislation would be required for FY 09. Selectmen are apparently so confident that a new bill would pass that they suggested transferring another $100,000 of this money to the schools to offset some of the shortfalls there. The Warrant Committee opposed all of these transfers.
Fagan said: “We feel confident we can get the borrowing plan through (for Pickens). We couldn’t fund firefighters in 2009 without this transfer of funds. With the funds, it will allow for the fire department to keep their normal (11 person) shift.”
In support of a balanced budget, several members stressed that the current state of the economy is not right for an override.
“These are tough times,” said member Sheila Varela. “We’re in a recession, and we just can’t afford it right now. Where are the people asking to have their voices heard? I don’t see it. No one has said to me to vote for the contingent budget.”
Fagan assured the meeting that safety is a prime concern, regardless of budget cuts. Police Chief Richard Wells assured the meeting that this was the case and that the police are aware that future cuts are likely. “We knew it was coming. We prepared for it,” he said. “It’s a tough year, but we’ll get through it.”
Beirne Lovely, chair of the School Committee said that the schools could survive the year with an additional $200,000 and that an arrangement had been reached with selectmen prior to the meeting providing the money.
In addition to the $100,000 from the Pickens health fund, an additional $73,000 was found when the state reduced the town’s assessment to the retired teacher’s fund. The remainder is coming from reducing the reserve fund for unemployment and reducing the legal services line item.
The Warrant Committee opposed these transfers.