Town to hold the line on spending habits
Published on October 5th, 2005
Town Administrator Ron Florino plans to hold the spending line at this October's Town Meeting by placing all of Stoneham's estimated $600,000 of certified free cash into the stabilization fund.
According to Florino, by transferring all the free cash into the rainy day fund, which was drained by $500,000 last spring to balance the FY06 budget, nearly $1 million will remain available for any budget difficulties faced next year.
"We're not going to have as much free cash as we didn't last year. It will probably be around $500,000 to $600,000. I'm going to recommend that we put all of that in stabilization," Florino said, who if successful, will break the reoccurring annual trend of balancing budget errors with the funds.
While Stoneham has traditionally received a much higher free cash appropriation in recent years, departmental reductions and level-funded budgets have left little for offices to turn back at the end of the year.
According to Florino, that fact underscores the need to ensure that no positions are restored at the fall Town Meeting, as current financial forecasts predict that Stoneham will continue to struggle to meet increased expenses with ailing revenue streams.
"We're not looking to restore any positions or put anything back into the budget. But we did receive about $140,000 from the state [in extra educational aid]," said Florino, explaining that the unanticipated revenue netted Stoneham $90,000 after increased state charges were factored in and paid off.
"We need to put some of that money in the reserve fund, about $50,000. And about $48,000 of that we're going to put into capital for small repairs," the Town Administrator said of his plans for the money.
Besides articles dealing with free cash and the stabilization fund, the school system has also proposed two money-related articles.
One of those articles, which seeks to gift an Emerald Court property to the Selectmen to raise revenues from a potential sale, could net over $200,000, according to town officials.
Although the Town Meeting body approved the sale of the lot last year through a zoning change from an educational to residential designation, the sale couldn't be completed because of an oversight.
Specifically, a warrant article from two years ago which originally transferred the land from the school to the town's possession included language that reverted jurisdiction of the property back to the school system if a sale wasn't completed within two years.
Less than a month after the zoning change was approved by Town Meeting, that two-year period expired.
"The School Committee is sponsoring this article to give this back to the town. We're still of the opinion that we no longer have any need for the land. And we want to give it to the town to dispose of as they see fit," said Assistant Superintendent Joseph Casey.
"Our hope is that money could be realized [through the property's sale] to help the budget of the town, which would in turn help the schools," the Assistant Superintendent added.
In addition to the Emerald Court proposal, the School Committee will seek funding for the replacement of the high school bleachers, which were determined to be structurally unsafe by former Building Inspector Gene Argiro last year.
According to Casey, initial estimates have placed the cost of the replacement at $180,000, although the Assistant Superintendent claimed that official bids for the work could come in either higher or lower for the project.
"We're still trying to get our fingers around the costs. We just want to make sure that figure is as tight as possible. For right now, we have a temporary occupancy permit from Cheryl Noble. But she feels the bleachers as a whole have to be addressed," Casey remarked.
According to Florino, the town will similarly pitch two capital requests to the Town Meeting assembly. Carrying a combined $250,000 price-tag, the two items, which would be paid for through borrowing funds, would authorize $150,000 worth of sidewalk repairs and allow the purchase of three new police cruisers.
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