Dalton Wipes Off Wahconah Demolition Debt
DALTON, Mass. — Town officials have been able to mitigate the costs for the demolition of the old Wahconah Regional High School, wiping it off the budget for next year.
"In 2020, we spent over $400,000. And this year, we will be spending zero," Finance Committee Chair William Drosehn said on Wednesday. "What it did was rearrange some of our debt so that we could get rid of some of it more quickly like this. So, it actually helps keep our tax rate solid. Having this huge increase that we mitigate helped mitigate the increase from the school."
Droshen said the former town manager, Ken Walto, had worked with Town Accountant Sandra J. Albano and Town Treasurer Dawn Fahey to mitigate the debt, allowing the town to pay it down quickly.
The Central Berkshire Regional School District has assessed the town $10 million for fiscal 2023, including $1.3 million in capital outlays, and is up $232,531 over this year.
The vocational education budget is showing a 16.15 percent decrease due to lack of participation from 9th graders. Last year, the budget was $529,810 and next year it will decrease to $444,249.
That budget was described as "rolling of a dice" by committee members because student participation makes it difficult to provide a stable budget. Ninth-graders are allowed to decide if they want to do their first year vocation but coming September, some end up changing their mind after applying and being accepted. In FY22 the town budgeted for 23 students but only 15 ended up attending. Students have until April 1 to decide if they want to apply.
The Maturing Debt and Interest Sewers and Drains budget has decreased 50.89 percent bringing the budget from $116,255 to 57,089. This decrease is because the Sewer and Engineering Study, Housatonic Laterals/Flansburg Drainage, and Interest Sewer Engineering Study Loans have been satisfied.
The maturing debt and interest line item will decrease 27.79 percent because the town has been paying off debt and varying purchases. This brings the budget down from $229,190 in FY22 to $165,508 in FY23.
The employee fringe benefits, judgements and claims, and parks and recreation lines are all level funded.
Building and property maintenance has increased 25.4 percent, bringing the total to $100,552, up from $80,184 last year. The Select Board had recommended shifting the trash removal from town properties line out of the transfer budget into building maintenance.
Based on the contract made between the town and Casella Waste Systems in 2000, the contract included the price of picking up waste in the four locations as part of the contract.
Drosehn inquired if there is a possibility of putting the trash pickup back out to bid. The town will be using Casella for fiscal 2023 and is currently in negotiation with it. The town can go out for quotes for fiscal 2024.
The transfer station budget received an 83 percent increase bringing it to $119,326, up from $65,206 last year. The budget includes a 32-hour laborer, which will extended to a full time 40-hour position in the future.
Committee members raised concerns around the amount of hours budgeted for the position this coming year, thinking it was not enough time.
Town Manager Tom Hutcheson said, "for this coming year, we're going to see how that works out and plan our operations and see how much extra time we might demand that person once we have additional operations."
Instead of the usual blue bags, the town will be selling stickers for residents to put on their own bags. Stickers will be made available around town, online and possibly at the transfer station and the Highway Department. They hope to maintain the current cost of the station but hope it will go down but it will not go down this year.
The committee approved the proposed group health and dental budget in the amount of $724,452 with the only concern being the potential of being short because it is unclear the number of new employees who may decide to join the plan.
The town is anticipating seven new hires this year and budgeted for five joining the health plan.
Drosehn said he had spoken to Town Treasurer Dawn M. Fahey, and she approved budgeting for five new employees, reducing the cost by $50,000.
The life insurance budget was approved to receive a 19.41 percent increase bringing it from $15,811 in fiscal 2022 to $18,880.
The insurance rate for active and retired employees is increasing from $14.80 to $17.90 per month, covering the 10 percent of the life insurance cost that the employees are responsible for. The town covers the other 90 percent.
The telephone, internet, and email services budget was approved for an 32.45 percent increase, bringing it to $33,800 from $25,520 the previous year. The increase is to accomodate the new TPX telephone system and fiber optic internet. The town also no longer has to pay for $400 for the ".gov" domain, bringing the hosting services line to $3,300.
The budget for sealer of weights and measures was approved for $7,292, which was a 0.59 percent increase from last year's budget of $7,249 due to salaries. The building inspector has been working on becoming a certified sealer for the last two years with the help of the state.
The communication budget was approved for a 13 percent increase to $256,147 from $225,012. The budget for salaries is $243,647, which is low because a grant offsets the salaries.
This percentage increase is due to the wage matrix. Dispatchers received the highest wage increase because they are among the least paid.
The department has consistently gone over budget, and this year ran out in January with five months to go. Committee members agreed that due to that, this increase is needed.
The streetlights budget is receiving an 18 percent increase, bringing the total budget from $27,508 in fiscal 2022 to $32,460 for fiscal 2023.
In 2021, the town had a large credit balance on its Eversource invoice due to Rockwood AG Grid's net metering credits being higher than they should have been. Adjustments had been made by Rockwood during fiscal 2021 and 2022 and these adjustments have stabilized.
In the past the town would have to consider shutting off lights to help lower the bill but now that the town has switched to LEDs and owns the lights rather than renting them, the cost has decreased.
Tags: Dalton_budget, fiscal 2023,
