Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco explains why the public safety salaries are running above budget.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is running a deficit in several of its line items — including police and fire — because of unexpected costs.
Four accounts are significantly over budget or close to being emptied. Police and fire have accounts that have expended more than 80 percent of their balances because of overtime; the snow and ice account is more than $84,000 in the red and the veterans account is expected to be $170,000 over.
The update was the first of what Mayor Richard Alcombright said will be regular budget control reports to the Finance Committee.
"We were budgeting for the exact dollar salary ... we kept the budget accurate and projected overtime but we didn't project for four [officers] to go to the academy and we didn't project for five firefighters on long-term disability," the mayor told the committee on Tuesday. "That's something to keep in mind as we begin budgeting for next year."
Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco said the department paid extra officer salaries for about 48 weeks to cover four officers at the academy plus two long-term disabilities on the force. Morocco said it was unusual for four officers to attend the academy in one year. It was caused by the number of retirements and departures and the fact the state scheduled the academies back to back. Another officer has retired as of March 1 and that means his replacement will attend the next academy.
Morocco did note that some revenues, such as the $15,000 reimbursed by the Solid Sound Festival last summer for overtime, do not show up against his budget but in the general receipts.
Nevertheless, "we're looking at a very sizable shortfall here but I think you're going to see there are a lot of smaller things that we — turnbacks — use," said the mayor. "There are some places we will not spend up to our budget."
The snow and ice account, the only account municipalities can overspend, will get some relief from federal reimbursements for the Jan. 12 snowstorm. The mayor said he expected to get $47,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency toward the $58,000 spent in man-hours, material and equipment to battle the massive Nor'easter.
The veterans services account is already $47,000 over and is expected to spend another $31,000 a month for the next four months. Seventy-five percent of those funds will be reimbursed by the federal government but not until the next fiscal year.
Alcombright said the uptick reflects the large number of veterans who have served in the Middle East and Afghanistan. "We're serving a lot of veterans through this district office," he said. "This money goes back into the community; it pays for rent, it buys groceries, it does all these things. It's a program that needs to be there."
The mayor said city is also keeping an eye on Department of Public Works salaries, which were elevated becuase of the amount of overtime to fight the near-constant snowstorms, and the health insurance account, which is currently projected to be about $100,000 over, "but we're hoping it will fall in line."
Also in deficit: the mayor's office because he didn't realize he had to budget $2,000 in dues to the National Mayor's Association. He promised to do it right next year.
Overall, the city is running about where it should be three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year, said Alcombright, with half its expected revenues received and most accounts having spent between 60 percent and 70 percent of their budgeted amounts. The fiscal year ends June 30.
Among the good signs are some $90,000 collected in back water fees; a projected increase in school tuition and about $50,000 more in transfer station revenues; more back excise taxes collected; savings of up to $50,000 from taking over the water filtration plant; and bundling of utility costs for all departments which could mean another $70,000 in savings.
The city is also preparing to sell off a number of properties later this summer, including two 64-acre lots off West Shaft Road. A solicitation for bids from auctioneers is being prepared for publication.
The sewer fee is expected to show a deficit its first year because a first-quarter payment couldn't instituted in time.
"It ain't pretty but I think it's doable," said the mayor. "We're going to continue to watch revenues very closely."
Alcombright also provided the committee and those in attendance with the city's responses to recommendations from the state management review and the audit done by Scanlon & Associates. Many of the issues were in the process of being developed or implemented; others, such as adopting current budget procedures as ordinances, were found to be too complex to adopt before the fiscal year begins. They will continue to be worked on.
He said the city was also following the Governmental Accounting and Standards Board, or GASB, rules by accounting for unfunded post-retirement benefits. The city is projected to have future liabilities of $92 million.
"If were to start funding it it would be $3 million a year," said Alcombright. "The accounting practice says you should be banking for this but it would bankrupt every city in the state."
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Did Mayor Alcombright really say "Also in deficit: the mayor's office because he didn't realize he had to budget $2,000 in dues to the National Mayor's Association"??? Did they even look at past years budgets to see what was in them. Scary.....
The reason that happened is because it wasn't IN past year's budgets. It would just get paid out of general funds... which is not where it should have been.
He we go. This thread should become another topix battle. He missed $2000 dues fee but caught a $5000 stipend not included in the mayor's salary which Barrett received each year. He had that removed from the budget including two personal vehicles the mayor used budgetted for public safety. The difference here is he cuaght the error, letting the public know, and correcting it, unlike the $1.5 million unfunded insurance. You're worried about $2k but the $1.5 million didn't bother you? That's scary.
I'll say to you (iBerkshires.com) the same thing I posted in the Transcript: "Don't you think that a "feel good" story, about certain departments running under budget, the increased collections from past-due water bills, plus the savings garnered by the transfer station and water treatment plant (then tagged with the police and fire budget running short), would have made for a better story than this one? There is more than one way to report a story, and I think you chose the one that would upset the readers the most. You just sensationalized the whole story."
Editor: Actually, I followed the mayor's lead. He thought those accounts were important to discuss, pointed them out specifically to the Finance Committee and made sure there were people there to answer any questions they had. I suppose I could have ignored that part of the meeting and focused on the sunny side, but would that really be serving the public? I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
Apparently, you did not read what I posted. I said "Don't you think that a "feel good" story, about certain departments running under budget, the increased collections from past-due water bills, plus the savings garnered by the transfer station and water treatment plant (THEN TAGGED WITH THE POLICE AND FIRE BUDGET RUNNING SHORT), would have made for a better story than this one?" (I added the capitalization, for emphasis.) You could have reported the WHOLE STORY, leading with the positive stuff, first.
Editor: Because accounts running under do not have immediate consequences and accounts running over do. I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
The $2,000 oversight is something we would never have heard about before. Kudos to Dick Alcombright for being upfront and honest about things. NA Resident, you are just plain wrong on this one.
I could be wrong but it looks like the tax payers were billed for the police for the Sound Festival, when someone told us we would not. Someone did not point that out ?? Did someone say devious.
Editor: Read the article Wayne. The commissioner said public safety was paid $15,000 for covering Solid Sound but the funds went into general receipts - not into the force's salaries account. I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
Dear Editor. Please, read my comment. I did say I could be wrong. Also note I tried to be civil by saying please in my response to you, not trying to sound demamding .
Editor: Sorry if I sounded abrupt but too many people seem to be posting allegations of some kind based on careless reading of articles. I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
How about you just close down the forums? All they do is pass along misinformation, deter people from getting involved in the public process and violate the "social contract" of Democracy that is so well described in the Federalist Papers.
I am not sure during down discussion is less harmful than allowing open discussion. On the other hand at least a few recent stories with lots of comments seem to have vanished from the site altogether. Odd.
It's a shame educated professional reporters feel necessary these days to allow the opposite to dominate their pages with unfounded accusations, false information, and revengeful lies. Bring respect back to journalism and remove the tabloid forum.
Many stories fall off the News pages when they eventually get bumped from the main page. After your response I looked around the site and found several "blog" entries that were news on the front page but have lost their "News" listing.
These stories may not have disappeared from the site, but they are not in the most obvious place.
Editor: That is an issue. We're looking at ways to change that. However, if you're looking for North Adams news, most is in one spot on the "Tunnel Vision" blog. The link can be found on the front page. I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
The time has come for Mr. Alcombright to start telling the truth. The Council should be taken to task also. No where in the budget is there a line item for National Mayors group or whatever he calls it. If it was not in the budget it means the bill should not have been paid. The mistruths continue to come from this administration and as each day passes fewer and fewer people have any trust or confidence in this administration. Not one member of the Council asked the question what account was this paid from. I don't care whether Barrett had a car or anything else because he balanced the budget every year and kept my taxes down. Now we have a guy in the corner office who didn't know he hired four new cops and they had to go to school. Did he forget the two new guys he hired at the city yard last fall? How about the new people in City Hall who have been hired. He can't even pick a new Administrative Assistant because he can't make decision. I can't wait for next years budget and who he is going to blame for the financial mess the city is in. The Scanlon Audit came out and guess what, no problems from prior years. This is a scary situation and we have a city council who sits there and worries about Open Forum rather then the out of control budget that continues to get worse every day. In the words of Dick Alcombright in his State of the City, "I don't want to hear we don't have the money". In others words we shall keep spending and taxing. Guess what Dick you better start hearing we don't have the money. And Resident stop drinking the cool aid, the $2000 bill for a Mayor's Association, who do you think signed off on it and without it being funded? God help us.
Truth is absolutely wrong on several points and sounds like the same broken record he has been for 3 years.
But I guess he is just trying out the script for Sunday's night's cable access show where he gets the same 3 people to agree with him, over and over and over and over and....
Where Just me is Truth wrong. You can't make a statement without at least showing where Truth is making false statements. Obviously Truth made claims and unless proven wrong, must be assummed to be true. Maybe one of the Councilors will come forward and challenge this Mayor and ask questions instead of defending this sinking ship.
"Obviously Truth made claims and unless proven wrong, must be assummed to be true. "
With all due respect, that is the logic of a young child.
A claim needs evidence and "Truth" has none. He has an **opinion** that is based on his dislike for Dick Alcombright.
Which "facts" would you like refuted?
Individual items do not show up as line items in a budget, but unlike JBIII, Dick will tell you where every last penny is spent.
The "Audit" simply confirmed the math of the previous administration. It did not say the money was spent properly or improperly. The STATE, however, had a VERY strong opinion about the insurance trust fund and the spending-down of the reserve accounts to pay everyday bills.
As for new employees, if you cannot do the math of time and a half for a senior employee versus a new, lower paid employee, and then extrapolate out a couple of years, then you really need to go back to middle school.
Truth is angry. He hates taxes and blames Dick for everything. Fine. That's his right.
I have now wasted 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back trying to reason with the unreasonable. The others are correct - "Truth" is incorrect.
It seems that the mayor wants us to believe that to hire more city employees will save money, ( his words not mine) so far his theory has not worked !!! If such a theory did work wouldn't unemployment be at zero ?? That is common sense.
@Wayne, Key words in your comment - "so far". Ultimately having rookies on the force to cover the needed shifts will most definitely save money.
Let me give an example. I'll use nice, simple round numbers so you can try and keep up.
Let's say there are a total of 40 10 hour shifts that need to be covered. That's 400 hours. Right?
There are only 7 workers whose average pay is $20/hour.
If all seven work 40 hour shifts, that is 280 hours, leaving 120 hours of overtime, which is paid at 1.5x ($30/hour)
280 hours x $20 = $5600
120 hours x $30 = $3600
Total wages = $9200
Let's say a rookie employee makes $10/hour and the city hires 3 of them.
The same 400 hour schedule:
7 veteran workers 280 hours x $20 = $5600
3 rookie workers 120 hours x $10 = $1200
Total wages with 10 employees = $6700
THE TOTAL AMOUNT SAVED BY HIRING THE NEEDED WORKERS AT THE ROOKIE WAGE IS $2500/WEEK!!!
Of course it is more complex with benefits, other variables,etc... but even if the new employees made $20/hour, like everyone else, the savings would STILL be $1200/week saved on overtime alone.
So, to answer your incredibly feeble supposition that unemployment should be zero if hiring more people saved money, all I can say is I hope you don't help your kids with their math homework.
Just Me/ugh are both mouth pieces for this administration. The facts are simple: Dick Alcombright has not been honest with the people of this city in the area of finances and continues to spend money the City does not have . He has violated the Open Meeting law on several occassions including un-posted meetings of the School Building Committee and the press looks the other way. The reason the police and fire budget is short is that he gave them two years of back pay and only funded it for one year. He bought his Commissioner of Highway a new vehicle with funds from some other department. The Mayor approved payment to hire a private tow company to tow a city truck out of an employees yard after it got stuck while the employee was plowing his yard. He has added two new employees in the city yard along with a new plumber which was not in the budget. I could go on and on but like Ugh I wasted ten minutes giving you facts about spending and cover-ups which are going on in this administration. Laws are ignored, Boards are over ruled and unions are catered to. This was the same candidate who said there would be transparency and his door would always be open. Until someone can prove otherwise what I have said is the truth. And I don't hate Dick Alcombright, I hate the fact of what is happening in city government and it is being ignored by the City Council and the media. Anyone who questions the council, especially the Finance Chairman Bloom is treated like second class citizens. It is hard to believe Mike Bloom has been on the City Council for 30 years and still has no idea about the city's finances. The people who work in city hall know what is going on from spy gate to the unprofessinal behavior which seems to be the trade mark of this administration.
Just me. Please let me try and help you catch up on the news. We are in the worst ecomony in sixty years ! Private sector companies are seem to find it cheeper to pay the overtime and not hire incase someone is needed because of complex benefits. Also private sector workers have been asked to take pay cuts and pay more for health and retierement or face lay offs. Seniors on fixed incomes haven't had an increase in two years. I guess that you are one of the chosen and do not care about the people who are tring to hold onto what they have while the taxes are the hightest in thirty years. So for the mayor to not only hire but give raises at this time is umconscionable.
You said needed workers,what about what the tax payers can afford . I would like to have someone cut my grass but the bottom line is I can not afford it at this time. Why not run the city the same way some people run house expenses. Use common sense.If you have no money do not do not hire or spend. I guess when you spend and give away tax payer money it is different. I tell my children never to use a fake name only people with something to hide does that. I also tell them that if you tell someone you have saved them money and can not show them then you will never be respected.
I run a business and have no connections to city hall other than those things that I have to go there for like permits, dog tags, parking tickets, etc...
I know Dick a little bit, but not very well. For what it's worth, I know John Barrett somewhat better. (They are both decent guys.)
But I do know what a balance sheet looks like. I do have to sign paychecks. I create and understand budgets. I pay and understand taxes. I am competent at math. I am a good manager of people and products.
Based upon what I have read here, neither Wayne nor Truth have any of those skills.
I know it will come as a shock, but North Adams ranks 330th out of 336 cities and towns in MA for the cost of property taxes. http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dls/city_town/2010/taxbill0910.xls
Given that we pay nearly the lowest amount in the state, I am stunned that my street still gets plowed. The parks are still mowed. Fires are still put out. Crooks are still arrested. Restaurants are still inspected. Street lamps still work. Cemeteries are still maintained. Gas pumps are still checked for accuracy. The transfer station still operates. Schools still open their doors. Verteran's Services are still offered. Building codes are still enforced. ... you get the picture.
If we cut city workers in North Adams and don't fill their jobs with overtime (which is DEMONSTRABLY more expensive than new employees) which of these services do you want to get rid of? Which are you going to volunteer to do? Will you chase down bank robbers on Main St.? Will you run into a burning house to save the lives of people you don't know or care about? Will you buy the asphalt to fill the pot holes? Will you arrest the drug dealers? Will you mow the grass on my grandmother's grave? Will you teach a kid with autism how to spell?
If you want to save money on taxes, move to Hancock, with the cheapest taxes by far, where you will get your money's worth - one school and one road.
As for me and the majority of the voters in this city, we want a city that actually works and provides services at a good value. North Adams does that better than almost any other municipality in Massachusetts.
Ugh was right. Time spent on this subject with you guys wasted. Have a good night ranting on Cable TV.
Oh, btw, Truth - as John Barrett used to say to his detractors; "Those are very serious charges."
You should call up DA Capeless and tell him about all these violations you see, but no one else does. Maybe you should even call the state police.
Until you actually do something other than rant at a city council meeting and yell on Cable TV, you should chill out.
As for transparency, I have to assume it truly exists if you know about all these issues. I know darn well that in years past, if the former mayor wanted to keep something private, you never would have found out about it.
OK Truth. I am happy that your business is doing so well. May I ask when was the last time you gave your employees a four percent raise?? Do you give your employees full retirement after twenty years and health insurance. I bet not. I did not say we need to cut city workers. ask them to do what private sectors have been doing for years. Pay more for health insurance take a pay cut , pay more into retirement. Again to keep you up to date we are in the worst ecomony in sixty years. Perhaps that doesn't affect someone of your wealth but how about people who do not have live on unemployment and the under employed ?? Your answer to them is to move out of town ?? Wow how do you sleep at night. We had all the services you talked about before the 140 precent tax increase the mayor and city council forced on us. Do you expect anyone to believe that the police are arresting twice as many bad guys or the fire department is putting out more fires?? Please
I've got my tax bills right in front of me -140%?!?!
You are really bad at math. By my calculations, with both the sewer fee and the property tax, I am paying about 8% more than last year, and that includes a slight hike in my assessment.
No one "forced" a tax hike on you. You have elected representation on city council. (Or have you forgotten that the ACTUAL Tea Party's motto was 'No taxation WITHOUT representation.'?)
If you are out of work due to the economy, you have my sympathy. However, the economic collapse is over. There is actually slight job growth going on. Unless we have a double dip recession, we survived in pretty good shape.
Enough. You have sucked me into this discussion for far too long.
I do not think anyone wants or needs your sympathy. I think people just want to be treated fairly and not lied to. As for the economic collapse being over?? What ? 9.5 unemployment ,almost every state broke are you kidding ? Perhaps for you and your well paid employees but for millions still hurting that isn't true. Now as far as our taxes being so low, how many people are building new houses in the city ?? Why are businesses moving out of the city. I didn't suck you into anything. If you are happy to pay more taxes and getting nothing for them , feel free to do so. I on the other hand expect to see something for my money. Again if someone tells me they saved me money I expect to see a savings not just hot air.
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:: Preliminary Election: Deadline to register is Wednesday, Sept. 7. (Office open from 8 to 8.)
:: General Election: Deadline to register is Tuesday, Oct. 18
Registration can be completed at the city clerk's office at City Hall.
Absentee ballots are now available at the city clerk's office for the Sept. 27 preliminary city election. Voters may come in between the hours of 8 and 4:30 weekdays. Written reguests for mailed ballots can be sent to City Clerk's Office, 10 Main St., North Adams, MA 01247. Deadline for absentee ballots is Monday, Sept. 26, at noon.
The preliminary election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 27, to narrow the field of three mayoral candidates to two. The general election to select nine city councilors and a mayor will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8.
