Clarksburg Officials Make Last-Minute Budget Cuts
 The Finance Committee members Mark Denault, Rebecca Buck and Lori-Anne Aubin and Selectman Carl McKinney make last-minute budget cuts on Monday night. |
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Finance Committee sliced thousands of dollars from the town budget on Monday night, just 24 hours before the annual town meeting to prevent a Proposition 2 1/2 override.
By the end of three hours, some $40,000 had been cut from the $1.2 million town budget.
Town officials have been struggling for months with erratic numbers related to free cash and local receipts because of accounting errors, which also led to a hold up in its free cash certification by the state.
Monday night, they were faced with a budget that turned out to be over the Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit by some $67,000.
"In light of our certified free cash and some other things that have come up, we actually know now that we are going to be over the levy limit," said committee Chairman Mark Denault. "This is the number we need to make up one way or another tonight."
The levy limit is $1,596,438 — the amount the town can raise through taxation without going to a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote. The town needed at first to raise $1.629 million — which jumped to $1,663,494 after reviewing the local receipts — to fund the school and town budget.
The town has $69,777 in certified free cash and $179,000 in the stabilization fund, of which $85,000 is committed to fund warrant articles.
There was $210,000 in free cash but the state has set aside $61,000 for reimbursements on culvert work on Henderson Road and more than $75,000 to offset accounting errors.
With so little in reserve, the committee and Selectmen Chairman Carl McKinney felt they had no choice but to begin cutting away.
Every department took a hit, from a high of $20,000 in cuts to veterans services to a low of $70 to the Senior Center. Town employees' raises were cut from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.
Saved was a full-time position in the three-man Highway Department. The vacant $32,000 spot had been considered for reduction to half-time — or two half-times — as a way to save on salaries and benefits.
Foreman Kyle Hurlbut argued that he'd have difficulty finding someone competent to take a part-time post with the proper licensing, it could become a safety issue and it would cause problems with taking vacation and sick time and covering roads during the winter.
The committee and McKinney determined in the end that enough had been cut to keep the full-time post, since the town would also be saving at least a month's salary by the time the position was filled.
Also kept in the budget was a line item for training for the accountant and treasurer. "We should keep in the education," said committee member Lori-Anne Aubin. "... That's what caused our problems."
The final tally was $26,000 over the levy limit; town officials will request $30,000 from free cash from the floor of town meeting to cover the amount.
The reductions also brought the expected tax rate down from an estimated $1.50 per thousand dollars evaluation to about a $1.
"I'm not comfortable with taxes going up $3 in two years," said Denault, with which McKinney agreed. "When the board presents it, I think they have to be real to the people of this town and say we were able to get it under a Proposition 2 1/2 override and that we had a lot of problems."
Officials expect to make a number of changes to town warrant articles from the floor, since the warrant was already posted and cannot be changed. Including the request from free cash, they will ask to amend Article 12 to request $10,000 (down from $70,000 for roadwork) from the stabilization fund to have enough for engineering fees to prepare for a $1 million MassWorks grant.
Also in attendance at Monday's meeting was Town Administrator Thomas Webb, town Accountant Christa Marsh, Treasurer Melissa McGovern (for part of the meeting) and former Finance Committee Chairwoman Mary Beverly.
Town meeting starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18, at the Clarksburg Elementary School.
Tags: town budget, town meeting 2013,
