Taking a closer look at tough choices
Published on February 7th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - The survival tactics used to balance the fiscal 2002 Town Budget may set the tone for Stoneham in the next decade.
“It’s not going to be easy,” said Town Administrator Jeff Nutting last month. Town Accountant Ron Florino inherits the tough job as Acting Administrator on March 2.
“Layoffs are the last way to balance the budget,” Florino said last week. So Town officials must get creative quickly.
With the economy slowing and state aid dwindling, the Town faces a $1.5 million shortfall in 2002. A four-school building project, a little more than one quarter complete, may run millions overbudget in the years ahead. The Fire Department doesn’t even have enough men to safely respond to every emergency. And as always, residents grumble about high property taxes.
Construction costs are the largest unknown variable facing the schools project. But maybe an economic slowdown could mean decreasing prices. Town Administrator Jeff Nutting has decided to keep the Fire Department off the killing floor during budget slashing, but nothing else is certain. Even the numbers the Town uses for state aid are an estimate; the final budget won’t pass until July.
“We go with the Governor’s budget, assuming Finneran and Birmingham will cancel each other out,” said Finance Board Chairman Richard Gregorio.
But with all this uncertainty, some clear options exist. The options identified by Town officials and supported by the citizens will determine the future character of Stoneham.
Municipal belt-tightening
Nutting’s preliminary plans for balancing the 2002 budget include cutting $5,000 from the Selectmen’s administrative budget; cutting $5,000 from summer Public Works; cutting $5,000 from outside professional services, i.e. legal work; offering a retirement incentive to one employee, eliminating $15,000; cutting $4,000 from the Finance Board staff budget; saving $50,000 by not filling a police vacancy; cutting $50,000 from police overtime; saving $40,000 by not filling a Public Works vacancy; making a $75,000 appropriation for capital projects at the Spring Town Meeting ($75,000 instead of the usual $150,000); saving $9,500 by cutting Sunday hours at the Public Library; cutting another $50,000 from here, there and anywhere, i.e. from Town Administrator expenses or by making a smaller appropriation into the Reserve Fund at the Spring Town Meeting.
In addition to these cuts Nutting said new revenue will help balance the budget. He identified revenue sources including charging the Housing Authority $30,000 for rubbish collection (already done by other towns, but not Stoneham); receiving an additional $65,000 from a Police grant; increasing recreation fees by $5,000; and saving $25,000 by having Town employees do the water backflow inspection instead of contracting with a private company.
These cuts total almost $500,000, which is the budget shortfall on the municipal side of the Town Budget. And indications from the state in the past week suggest that the worst case scenario may not become a reality. Lottery returns may be higher than expected, and Stoneham’s municipal shortfall might be closer to $300,000, when all the numbers are in.
School budget struggles
The Schools have worked with meticulous zeal since December, trying to prepare a tight budget. Superintendent Joe Connelly said that only 0.33 percent, or $63,329, of an $1,993,143 increase in his 2002 budget is from controllable items. The bulk of the increase comes from fixed costs — utilities, contracts and state mandates for MCAS and special education.
The Schools anticipate an $800,000 share of Town revenue and 10 to 12 retirements which should shave another $200,000 from the 2002 budget. Close to a million dollar shortfall remains.
The East School is empty, and the School Department may want to make money off this building somehow, but no formal plans have been announced.
Teachers may be cut. In a meeting last month the School Committee explained that since Education Reform mandates a specific number of teacher hours at the high school level, cuts would come from the lower grades. This would result in larger middle school and elementary class sizes.
With fewer teachers the School Department might opt to close the smaller Colonial Park School and redistribute the 132 pupils. But, it doesn’t have to be like this...
Shifting the burdens
The Selectmen and School Committee may decide to shake the budget up, and have the Town take some of the burden off the schools, according to Finance Board member John Warren.
“Trying to cut $900,000 from the school budget could devastate the schools,” Warren said. “No one wants that.”
Other possibilities involve the populace to the rescue in any number of Town Meeting possibilities. Citizens could vote to pay the schools from the Stabilization Fund or vote for a debt exclusion.
However, fiscally conservative citizens may be loath to rely on funds traditionally used for emergencies or special projects to balance an annual department budget.
It took a hard-fought battle in 1997 to convince citizens to pass a debt exclusion to fund borrowing for the $39.9 million elementary school building project. Now that project may need more help.
Looking ahead
The South School is built. The new Central School is under construction, but the question of who will pay for remediation of polluted soil remains unanswered. South was on budget but Central is millions over.
The next two schools Colonial Park and Robin Hood are scheduled for simultaneous construction. To receive state reimbursement (at 63 percent) construction must begin on both schools by fiscal 2003. Due to rising construction costs and changing code requirements, these schools are forecast to run overbudget as well.
“It is premature to predict the cost of these schools because we don’t know construction costs,” Warren said.
Warren said he thought the Schools would be built. And he doubted whether any Proposition 2 1/2 override or even a debt exclusion would be necessary. But he did think the Middle School renovation would have to wait. Just like the Fire Department may have to wait.
Maybe class size will increase, the Police Department will shrink and the East School will be put up for rent like the North School.
New revenue sources such as pay-as-you-throw trash and a proposed bill requiring the state to pay Stoneham in lieu of taxes for MDC land are among many ideas Town officials are kicking around. And changes in the Education Reform per pupil funding formula, which the State Legislature is aiming at for 2003 or 2004, will help Stoneham significantly even if the state economy remains sluggish.
Nobody knows for sure what the future will bring, but two things are certain:
Stoneham has options. And all Stonehamites will have a voice.
“Trying to cut $900,000 from the school budget could devastate the schools...No one wants that.”
— John Warren,
Finance Board
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