Officials will begin budget meetings Feb. 12
Published on January 31st, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - Town officials will launch an aggressive five-year budget planning campaign in the coming weeks, potentially in preparation for placing another override question on the election ballot.
During this Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, held jointly with the School Committee and Finance Board, former Arlington Selectman Charles Lyons explained how he successfully sold an override in excess of $6 million after crafting a five-year financial blueprint for that municipality.
Stoneham officials, though never mentioning the word override after the presentation, decided that the town should mimic that process. On Feb. 12 at 7 p.m., the three boards will sit together and begin hammering-out a multiple year financial plan.
Former Town Administrator Ron Florino, along with his replacement David Ragucci, will kick-off that gathering by presenting their proposed FY'08 budget, which is expected to absorb an estimated $3 million deficit.
"The next step should be a joint meeting where we all roll-up our sleeves to develop a plan where we can raise additional revenue," said Supt. Dr. Joseph Connelly, who advocated for inviting all unions, community leaders, and residents to the planning sessions.
"I think the more people we can get fully understanding these issues, the stronger chance we have of passing that message onto the community," Connelly furthered.
During his presentation to the three municipal boards, Lyons spoke about the difficulty cities and towns face in balancing annual budgets in the face of reduced local aid and soaring health insurance, utility, and other fixed expenses. However, the former Arlington Selectman, who also serves as the Superintendent of the Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, insisted that local officials can no longer afford to play the blame game by pointing their fingers at the State Legislature.
"If you're in a squeeze, and the state isn't going to bail you out, you put together a plan and go to the citizens," countered Lyons, when Selectman Tony Kennedy started to complain about the inequities of the state's educational aid formula.
"One of the things I've been talking to community groups about over the past couple of years is that if you want to solve your problems, you have to solve them on your own. There is no silver bullet," the Arlington resident said at another point.
Recalling how he successfully lobbied for an override, Lyons recounted drafting a five-year financial proposal that made some bold assumptions about how much Arlington could afford to pay for health insurance and regular operating cost increases. Specifically, during the first year, the proposal assumed every department could get the funding increases they desired, a rise in expenses that would be paid for through the override.
However, after that initial fiscal year, the spending forecast demanded that no jumps in health insurance or pensions increase beyond seven percent, and that no departmental budget see more than a four percent raise.
"We went to the voters and said, 'we need a 10 percent increase in taxes in one year. We want over $6 million and we're going to put half in the bank,'" Lyons said.
"Planning is the best thing we can do to give the electorate a sense of security," added the Superintendent, who advocated for complete transparency during that process.
Cautioning the Selectmen that his proposal wasn't as simple as crafting a spending plan and then walking away, the veteran Arlington official warned that a tough period would ensue as workers, citizens, and community leaders started living with the change.
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