Town prepare for FY04 open forum
Published on February 26th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Town officials are inviting the best and brightest, and anyone else with a passing interest, to attend the public hearing for the FY04 budget at the Stoneham High School on March 3.
Town department heads are expected to be in attendance, and to give a presentation of the FY04 budget, and some of its sobering ramifications. According to a memo released by Town Administrator Dave Berry, the town is planning a budget that will layoff the equivalent of 22 full-time town positions. The School Committee is releasing a first draft of a similar ?budget of doom? that will layoff approximately 30 full-time equivalent school employees.
The balanced budget submitted by Berry for FY04 plans for approximately $1 million in cuts to both the school and municipal budgets, and includes
Stoneham Board of Selectmen Anthony Kennedy first mentioned the idea of the public meeting, and hoped that Stoneham will somehow catch financial lightning in a bottle.
?The people of Stoneham have to hear the full extent of the problem,? said Kennedy. ?It?s difficult for people to dream up solutions if they don?t have an understanding of the inner workings of the budget, but we may also get some people with fresh ideas...things we haven?t looked at yet.?
?It?s a good forum to get feedback from the people,? added Selectman Mary Pecoraro. ?Too often at Town Meeting the numbers are sprung on the people, and they are left asking a lot of questions.?
Kennedy and Pecoraro, as well as School Committee members Cheryl Walsh and Dan Moynihan, felt it was important to lay out the picture for the people of Stoneham. Police, Fire, DPW, School and all municipal department heads will have a chance to present their budgets, and show voters the aftermath of the nearly $2 million shortfall.
The discussion took place during a budget summit meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25 between members of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Finance and Advisory Board, as well as Town Accountant Ron Florino, Berry, and Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connolly.
Town officials discussed using a tote board to jot down ideas brain-stormed by townspeople, as well as employing the services of Board of Selectmen clerk Muriel Doherty and School Committee clerk Ruth Cronin.
According to School Committee Chairman Dan Moynihan, a full presentation of budgetary options and answers was an absolute necessity at the hearing.
?We need to be very clear in the presentations, and show people exactly what is at stake in FY04,? said Moynihan. ??We should show the results of the cuts, of selling off town or school owned property, or voting for a property tax override.?
Many town officials seem unwilling to voice outright support for an override, and have placed the onus on the voters of Stoneham.
?The only way an override is going to get on the ballot is if the people want it,? said Selectmen Cosmo Ciccarello. ?All you need is 10 people to get together and sign, and then it can be added to the Warrant for Town Meeting.?
Connolly suggested that town officials put together a history of overrides in the towns neighboring Stoneham. Connolly, as well as Town Accountant Ron Florino, speculated that Stoneham has had a sparse history of overrides compared to other towns.
?All the projects that we?ve embarked on (police station, schools etc.), and we?ve never asked for an override or trash fees,? said Florino. ?I got a little upset with John DeGeorge when he said that there was mismanagement in the town.?
?He doesn?t have a clue how other towns work, and how this town emphasizes working efficiently,? added Florino. ?We have 33 DPW workers for the entire town, and I don?t another town with a staff number that low.?
Berry?s initial FY04 budget also includes using $1 million of the $1.2 million stabilization fund to help balance the budget. Town Treasurer Tom Ciccatelli warned against using the fund as FY05 looms just around the fiscal corner.
?It doesn?t make sense to me to take something in one shot that took us seven years to build up,? said Ciccatelli. ?Not to mention that using the stabilization fund money could have a real impact on our bond rating.?
Ciccatelli reasoned that draining the stabilization fund could cost the town $2 million in related costs in FY05.
The School Committee and Board of Selectmen will hold a joint public hearing for the FY04 budget Monday, March 3 at the Stoneham High School (7 p.m.).
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