North Adams Ending Year Under Budget; Increases Loom for 2017
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city expects to end the fiscal year without having to dip into reserves despite a bump in overtime costs for the police and fire departments.
Treasurer David Fierro Jr. informed the Finance Committee last week during a review of the final months of fiscal 2016 that police and fire salaries are over budget for this year at a combined $225,000 because of greater than anticipated injuries on duty and overtime.
He said most of this cost comes from the police side because there were four officers out with injuries. Two officers have returned, but the remaining two have more severe injuries and are still out.
"It is not knitpicky stuff it is stuff that has physical significance," Mayor Richard Alcombright said on Wednesday. "It's not you and I going back to work. If we hurt our shoulder, we go back to work, but police and fire have to be fit for duty."
Chairwoman Lisa Blackmer asked if the number of injuries this year had increased and if the city is taking preventive steps to limit those incidents.
Alcombright said the amount of injuries this year is normal but that city is seeing more severe injuries that are keeping officers out longer.
"If you take off the two that are quite serious right now, we are probably right where we need to be because the other people that were out for a period of time of two or three months," he said. "For instance one of the fire fighter ... went down into a cellar after a fire. It was dark, they had a flashlight and ... with all the equipment on, he stepped in a hole and broke an ankle. How do you plan for that?"
Administrative Officer Michael Canales said because of the two remaining injuries, the city will budget in 2017 for 36 months instead of 24 for police salaries to handle the current ones and possible new injuries going forward.
However, the actual overage in the fiscal 2016 budget will be closer to $175,000 because the lack of snow this year meant savings of $50,000 in the cemetery and highway budgets to help alleviate the salaries line item..
Canales added that the city should be able to absorb this through inside appropriations within the budget. He anticipated $280,000 in unused funds can be taken from within the budget and the city will not have to ask the council for a reserve fund transfer to balance out the year.
"We are anticipating that we won't need to use reserves," he said. "Knock on wood something crazy could happen in the end, but at this point we aren't expecting anything."
Local receipt revenues are coming in on pace but the transfer station represents the biggest shortfall because it is offset by the decrease in expenses, or solid waste out. He said the city anticipated this with the changes made last year to the transfer station's operations.
"The expense for solid waste out equals approximately the percentage of solid waste in so whatever revenue we are not taking in we are saving the expense by not having to get rid of it," he said.
Canales said the city solicited bids for disposal and plans to open them at the end of the week. When the bids come in, the City Council will be provided a new cost analysis. He added that the transfer station may go to a five-day model and close on Mondays.
The mayor notified the Finance Committee that he plans to ask the council to transfer a large portion of free cash into the stabilization account to help free up money that could get stuck in the state's free cash calculation.
He said it also creates an extra checkpoint because any withdrawal from the account has to approved by the City Council.
Canales said many communities do this.
"You are better off putting it in one of your savings accounts, which usually is stabilization," he said. "It allows us to take control of our free cash and use it for projects."
The mayor added that he plans to ask the council for a small transfer from the reserve account for restoration work at Hill Side Cemetery and transfer from the parking meter reserves for a new police cruiser and improvements to the Center Street parking lot.
As for fiscal 2017, Fierro said all department heads have submitted budget requests and the budget is being crafted.
The mayor said the biggest bump will be heath insurance, which will increase 12.8 percent, represent nearly 12 percent of the early proposed budget, and up from an original estimate of a 7 percent increase.
"Last year, it went up 6 percent and if we held that number, it is likely that we would be coming to you with an essentially balanced budget," he said.
Alcombright said each percentage point roughly equates to $50,000, equaling a nearly $350,000 increase in insurance costs.
He said the city will have to soon look at a new plan and redesign its health insurance.
"Any time you lower the cost of health insurance you lower the benefits, we all know that," the mayor said. "Our employee base is aging a bit and using insurance more, so we want to keep as good of health insurance as we can."
Other increases include an 8.4 percent increase to McCann Technical School for a fiscal 2017 assessment of $993,000. But the Hoosac Water Quality District decreased by $2,800.
Tags: Finance Committee, fiscal 2017, overtime, public safety,
