Committee mulls over including cost-cutting measures in purview
Published on July 16th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Charged with the daunting task of exploring revenue ideas that will ultimately bridge a projected $4 million deficit for 2005, it was supposed to be an easy housekeeping meeting.
But meeting for the first time last Thursday night, the Town's eleven member Revenue Generating Committee found itself unable to even agree on the group's mission statement.
Originally, Selectman Tony Kennedy, who wrote the mission statement, intended the group to only look into revenue raising ideas.
However, because the Board of Selectmen formed the group to investigate the ideas presented by the Town's citizens at a March hearing on the 2004 budget, committee member Bill Previdi questioned why the group shouldn't research cost cutting measures.
"I thought a lot of the ideas were raised at that forum and some of those ideas focussed on costs savings. I thought it was one of the focuses of this committee," remarked Previdi, one of the committee's four private citizen representatives.
Previdi, who reduces costs at his business for a living, felt the Town should explore ideas such as pooling services between cities and towns and looking into a centralized purchasing system for municipal goods.
In addition to those reduction suggestions, the Town's citizens also proposed increasing the cost percentage municipal employees pay for their health benefits, slashing administrative costs, combing through private contractor costs for municipal needs, and instituting a program offering incentives to Town employees willing to transfer over to their spouse's health plan.
However, claiming that such responsibilities would require too much knowledge of inter-department workings in the municipality, Kennedy thought the two tasks would prove too difficult for the group to handle.
"I don't know if we can do that necessarily because the cutting of costs requires more in depth knowledge of the departments...I don't think we should be looking over the shoulders of the police and their $3 million budget and the school department and their $22 million budget," explained Kennedy, who has since changed his mind on the subject.
Town Accountant Ron Florino agreed with Kennedy, saying the group would better serve the Town by concentrating on revenue.
"I think we need to do something different this year because we've exhausted all our sources of revenue. We're either looking at an override or massive layoffs next year," commented Florino.
"I don't think cost savings is really going to help. These past years, departments are already working off the bare bone. We might find pockets of $4000-$5000, but we're looking at a $4 million deficit here. We need to look at things that will bring in $100,000 instead," he added.
In a post meeting interview, Kennedy discussed his change of heart on the mission statement.
"I'm beginning to think about looking at both (duties) because there's really not so many revenue ideas that eleven people won't be able to handle them," commented Kennedy, adding that the committee will possibly vote on an amended mission statement on August 9, the board's next scheduled meeting.
Although the committee didn't delve deeply into some of the revenue suggestions made, they board did informally decide to create several subcommittees that will investigate raising Town rentals and fees, the possibility of selling or leasing municipal lands, charging recreation fees for the use of Town parks or estates, and planning fundraising drives.
While Board of Health member Michael Rolli, who will sit on the committee as a private citizen, pushed for the group to formally vote on endorsing projects such as the proposed office park at the former site of the Boston Medical Regional Center, no final decision was made.
According to Kennedy, the group will have until October or November to make its recommendations to the Town. The Committee, which consists of four private citizens, two members of the Board of Selectmen, two School Committee members, and two Finance and Advisory Board members, will research both short term and long term solutions to a budget crisis expected to continue for the next couple of fiscal years.
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