October Town Meeting Preview, Department wish lists total more than $7M
Published on October 3rd, 2001
STONEHAM, MA – On Oct. 29 Stoneham town government will ask the citizens at Town Meeting to spend or borrow around seven million dollars.
Selectmen and the School Committee are working this week with Town Administrator Dave Berry to determine what and exactly how much to request.
A list of 34 warrant articles follows. All but the citizen’s petition are subject to rejection by the Selectmen.
“We have to find out our certified free cash amount,” Berry said. “I don’t think it will be more than $1.5 million.”
The Department of Revenue will send Stoneham the final figure within the next two weeks. “We will have to make cuts,” Berry said. Pending requests total $1.7 million from the municipal side and $5.4 million from the schools. This does not count the major Fire Department requests — see below for explanation.
At the Oct. 9 Selectmen’s meeting the Board will number the articles, assign final dollar values, and sign the warrant. But citizens may be interested to see the ideas and dollars dancing in the heads of town officials this week.
Board of Selectmen
1•Selectmen propose paying the difference in salary for town employees who are activated for military service in the National Guard or Reserves.
2•Selectmen make the annual request to reconcile the Fiscal Year 2002 budget by asking for the around $700,000 that the town couldn’t cover back in May.
3•Selectmen request permission to accept $132,090.83 from the state for road work in Stoneham.
4•Selectmen want to transfer $200,000 into the Stabilization Fund, a fund that can be used with a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting for anything, usually emergencies. The fund contains $1.3 million, which is around $2 million less than optimal, according to Stoneham fiscal policy.
“We like to keep it at 10 percent of the General Fund,” said Town Accountant Ron Florino in a previous interview.
5•Selectmen are also considering adding more money into the Stabilization Fund to defray the cost of Stoneham’s unexpectedly rapid growth in unfunded pension liability.
6•Selectmen are asking for $1,425 to pay prior year medical invoices for police officers and firefighters injured on duty.
7•Selectmen want money to buy and plant public shade trees.
8•Selectmen are asking for $6,000 for selective parking enforcement.
9•Selectmen are asking for $5,000 for selective traffic enforcement.
10•Selectmen want $5,000 to pay for professional services and Town Counsel expenses incurred in renewal of Stoneham’s cable contract.
11•Selectmen want $35,000 to cover the cost of a Safe Drinking Water Act assessment and for attorneys' fees associated with the Boston Regional Medical Center.
12•Selectmen want $5,000 to pay for expenses incurred in updating the Town Code.
13•Selectmen want to accept an easement across 26 Cottage St. for drainage purposes.
14•Selectmen are asking permission to grant an easement across Senior Center property at 136 Elm Street for Verizon New England for utility purposes.
Finance and Advisory Board
15•The Finance Board proposes spending money to pay for a study of the town’s solid waste and recycling program.
16•The Finance Board proposes the town get permission from the state to issue pension obligation bonds to help reduce Stoneham’s unfunded pension liability.
School Committee
17•The School Committee wants $5 million more for the school building project. Four million would pay for construction of South School (operational), Central School (near complete) and the renovation and addition to the Robin Hood and Colonial Park Schools (scheduled to be complete in 2004). The other million would go toward contamination clean-up costs.
18•The School Committee wants $194,000 in cash to pay for instructional materials and textbooks. The May 2001 Town Meeting approved borrowing money for the purchase.
19•The School Committee wants $136,000 in cash to pay for technology. The May 2001 Town Meeting approved borrowing money for the purchase.
20•The School Committee wants $60,000 to fund the accumulated vacation leave of school employees.
DPW
21•The Department of Public Works wants $150,000 for the construction, reconstruction or repair of sidewalks.
22•The Department of Public Works wants $150,000 for drainage improvements.
23•The Department of Public Works wants $150,000 to buy a sewer/drain jet machine cleaner. Half of this would come from sewer surplus funds.
24•The Department of Public Works wants $225,000 to repair its roof.
Fire Department
The Fire Department has submitted six articles. One asks for improvements of an engine. Four ask for improvements of the Fire Station without specific dollar values, and one asks for an engineering study to figure out what must be improved or changed. Berry hinted that the study may swallow the other five articles, or at least the four about the station.
25•The Fire Department wants $150,000 to refurbish the 1987 Fire Engine 4.
26•The Fire Department wants money to build a new fire station.
27•The Fire Department is asking for money to upgrade the current station by adding an addition to the fire bays. 28•The Fire Department is asking for money to construct a new fitness and training room and new kitchen in the old station.
29•The Fire Department wants money to pay for a ventilation system for the apparatus room of the the new fire station, if this comes to be, that would satisfy industry safety standards.
30•The Fire Department proposes the town spend money for an engineering study for the renovation or replacement of the Fire Station.
Board of Assessors
31•The Board of Assessors wants to tie the asset limitation and exemption amount for seniors, survivors and minors qualifying for property tax exemptions under clause 17E of MGL, Chapter 59, Section 5, to a cost of living adjustment determined by the Mass Commissioner of Revenue.
Qualifying individuals can have no more than $40,000 in assets to receive a $175 exemption on their property taxes. If the change is accepted by Town Meeting, these individuals will be able to have a little more and keep a little more over the years. The cost of living increase for the coming year will be around four percent.
32•The Board of Assessors wants to tie the asset and income limitations on citizens over 70 who qualify for property tax exemptions under clause 41D of the aforementioned MGL. The exemption stays at $500, but with the cost of living adjustment more seniors would qualify, and these folks could hold and earn more money over the years.
33•The Board of Assessors requests permission to use 100 percent of the cost of living adjustment to determine who qualifies for the two previous articles.
Citizen’s Petition
34•A citizen’s petition from Cameron Bain of Highland Avenue requests the town extend the term of the Stoneham Tri-Community Bike / Greenway Committee to continue working toward establishing a bike path in Stoneham.
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