5/8/08

(previous)
A decision not to have an override will offer property taxpayers some relief this year, but the reprieve may be temporary, officials say, because a larger override will likely be offered next year just to get the town back to this year’s level of services, which are said to be already inadequate by the Warrant Committee and town officials.
A caucus before Monday meeting between Selectmen, School Committee members and the Warrant Committee resulted in a strategy to defer 11 warrant articles until Tuesday night that hinge on whether the Meeting is willing to accept a contingency budget, that is a budget requiring an override. The articles involve school and department budgets.
Selectman Chair Kathryn Fagan introduced the motion to defer the articles. She said the plan was to have all department heads at the meeting Tuesday to talk to members about what a non-contingent budget without an override would do to services and mean to residents.
“We are faced with a question of whether we are prepared for an override budget,” Beirne Lovely, the School Committee chair, explained in support of Fagan’s motion. “I indicated to the Warrant Committee (which is proposing an override) that the leadership (for an override) is not forthcoming. We reached out to people, sent e-mails, as did Selectmen, and we got zero response. No one stepped forward to take on a leadership roll. It will take an enormous effort to pass an override this year.”
He explained that in past years residents stood up, raised money, and mounted a campaign in support of a budget override.
“That is not the case this year,” he said. “Our purpose in deferring these articles is to make everyone aware of what it will mean to live with non-contingent budgets this year.”
Lovely explained that the School Committee would caucus once they got a sense of where Town Meeting members stood on an override based on the tone of debate on the deferred articles. As it stands, the School Committee is on record opposing an override but only because they fear it will be defeated by residents.
Warrant Committee Chair Katherine Conlon opened the meeting with a PowerPoint presentation that explained in great detail the role of the committee in working with town officials to prepare budgets. The committee has proposed two budgets for Town Meeting to consider but has recommended the contingency budget.
“All we are doing is making budget recommendations,” she said.
She discussed the lengthy budget process, and spoke about difficulties that surfaced with the new multi-year “financial policy statement” put in place by the town last June by the former town administrator. Provisions of the new policy require multi-year budgets that maintain “level service.” But, she said, disputes surfaced during budget preparations as to exactly what was meant by level service in multi-year budgets, and this led to disagreements between the various government bodies.
“What’s level service? There is a difference of opinion on this,” Conlon said. “These are brand new policies” that will likely work better next year.
At a certain point in the budgeting process, she explained, the Warrant Committee became concerned that initial budget proposals prepared by town departments might have been too low to maintain any definition of level service. In fact, she made it clear that the committee is concerned about the state of public safety in town, if a contingent budget with an override is not presented to and passed by voters in June. The override proposal suggested by the Warrant Committee seeks an additional $2.6 million beyond the Proposition 2 1/2 limitations.
The non-contingent budget does not adequately fund public safety, according to Conlon, and there would be a significant impact on the school department.
“We have presented you with two budgets that represent months of meetings. They represent financial and not political considerations,” she said.