Council Reviews

Various Department Budgets

By Steve Bigham

The Legislative Council held the second of four budget deliberation meetings last Thursday and ended up making small changes to several large requests in front of it.

Changes to the budget – if any – will likely be made on the Board of Education side. The council was scheduled to meet with the school board this week (see related story).

The council is trying to come to terms with a proposed $72.4 million budget for 2001-2002, which reflects an eight percent increase over the current budget. At the moment, the council is looking at a potential tax rate increase of 2.4 mills.

Last week, the council completed its review of the proposed budget from the Board of Selectmen, which, excluding debt service, equates to less than a four percent increase. It approved a police budget of nearly $2.8 million, which represents a seven percent increase. The increase is due to a settlement over the union contract late last year and the addition of one new officer.

The council also approved $150,000 under the line item “police other,” which goes to pay officers for private duty work. The town is reimbursed for the money so this expense is considered “a wash.”

The council also approved a fire budget of $768,200, which was down nearly $200,000. The current budget was higher to accommodate the purchase of a fire truck. A total public safety budget of $4.46 million – which, in addition to police and fire, includes paramedics, communications, lake authorities, canine control, and dive team – was also approved. 

The highway department’s budget of $5.4 million was also approved. It represents less than a four percent increase. The Board of Selectmen has previously made a handful of reductions to highway’s capital requests. Also for the Highway Department, the council approved $350,000 for winter maintenance and $1.1 million for landfill.

The council approved a proposed $257,482 Parks & Recreation budget, which has a net increase of 4-5 percent.

It also set the first selectman’s salary for 2002 at $80,340 and $82,750 for 2003.

The Building Department budget of $257,482 was approved, as was public building maintenance for $730,000.

The council also appeared to give its blessing to a proposed upgrade to the town’s communications system. This project is expected to cost somewhere between $900,000 and $1.5 million. However, the final price remains unknown pending an engineering study. Police, fire, and ambulance all stress the need for the upgrade this coming year, particularly since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could revoke these frequencies if not used promptly. Also, according to Police Chief Michael Kehoe, the town’s low band equipment has become obsolete.

Last month, the Board of Selectmen agreed to bond $170,000 for the project in debt service in anticipation of getting the total figure from Motorola later this year. Upon first inspection, some council members opposed the idea, saying the capital items should be funded within the operating budget. However, upon a closer inspection, the council agreed with the selectmen’s move, although a final decision by the council was not expected until late this week.