Windsor Has to Fill Hole Left By Budget Miscalculation
WINDSOR, Mass. — Voters here on Monday declined to transfer $75,000 to fill a hole in an off-target budget that was approved at town meeting last month.That means cutting and shifting dollars among town departments, a Proposition 2 1/2 override, or spending some of that self-same "free cash" that was shot down by voice vote on June 22 at Town Hall, according to Selectman Steven Markowitz. Or it could be a combination of those measures, he said.
About 153 of the town's 628 registered voters came out to the special town meeting this past week for budget action and other measures.
Markowitz, while a player in the budget process, was away on business and could not attend Monday's meeting.
The Finance Committee, the Selectmen, the town accountant, and tax assessor all worked on the budget together before presenting it at town meeting on May 4. Officials came up with a budget of $1,323,294, about 7 percent above the current fiscal year.
It turned out that budget was wrong. Markowitz said the budget at the time of the May 4 vote was off by about $70,000. Town Accountant Barb Simkin said the figure now is closer to $53,000. Markowitz could not recall whether there were any specific line items that became overages in the budget.
"We used the numbers that we had available at the time," said Markowitz, "an estimate of what we were getting from the state, an estimate of new growth, and all of that stuff that goes into your budget. And of course, as an estimate, parts of it weren't right."
He said the Selectmen learned of the error about a half hour before the May 4 town meeting, but that it wasn't prudent for the board to instruct voters to shoot the budget down or amend it.
"The problem was that we found out walking in, and we didn't have the chance to go and look and see whether it was right or not," said Markowitz. "We couldn't go in and say, 'We think we might have a problem, so vote the budget down.' If we definitively knew that it was wrong, it might have made sense to do that."
He said it's not uncommon for town budgets to be based on estimates during the spring, before the state has completed its own annual spending plan. State budget figures were finalized only last week, assuming the governor signs the budget in the next day or so.
So, what's next for Windsor and its budget hole, with the next fiscal year set to begin on July 1? "The options are pretty slim, because the books have to close in June. We can't go back to try to use free cash again until free cash is certified. So either we have to hold off as best we can until then, if we're going to use any free cash, or we have to find the money somewhere in the current budget," said Markowitz.
Markowitz said an override was a possibility, but was unsure of a timeline for public hearings and a subsequent vote.
"Quite frankly, we were kind of hoping not to have and go and do that," he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the voters at the special town meeting did not OK the $75,000 shift of free cash into the budget, as he believes that's what free cash is for.
In other special town meeting action, voters:
■ elected a moderator, John J. Kelly.
■ defeated a measure to apportion school transportation expenses in the Central Berkshire Regional School District based on actual costs to each member town.
defeated an article to create a Board of Health.
■ rescinded a portion of annual town meeting Article 7 related to a highway truck loan payment for $26,880.14 that was coming from free cash.
■ decided to raise and appropriate $26,880.14 for the same highway truck.
■ chose to adopt a right-to-farm bylaw that did not make the warrant for the annual town meeting; it carried, but with numerous nays.
■ transferred $2,000 from the Stabilization Fund to the Town Office Repairs Account.
They also made a number of transfers in 2010 budget accounts: $1,500 from free cash to the Zoning Enforcement Account; $300 in free cash and $100 from the Veterans General Expense Account to Veterans Agent Wage Account; in an 86-44 hand count, $250 from the Planning General Expense Account, $300 from the Selectmen's General Expense Account and $250 from the Town Buildings/Town Offices Account to the Office Supply and Postal General Expense Account; and $7,000 from the Veterans Benefits Account to the Vocational Education Tuition Expense Account.
Contact Noah Hoffenberg at hoff1013@gmail.com.
