Officials approve trash fee division plan
Published on August 1st, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen endorsed a proposal on Tuesday night that would pipe $800,000 in trash fee revenues back into the school budget, with the left over $500,000 restoring municipal services slated for the chopping block.
Selectmen Paul Rotondi, who urged his counterparts to split up the funds more equitably between both government sectors, was the lone dissenter in the 4-1 approval.
"I spent 30 years on the School Committee. And every year, the budget was split 50-50. Now, all of a sudden, we're going to change that split," Rotondi said. "It's about the principal. We're all hurting. Let's hurt equally instead of one hurting more than the other."
Last June, a week after a $3 million tax override question failed at the ballots, the Selectmen voted to reimpose a previously abandoned fee for trash pick-up services.
The citizen charge, which had cost $160 per household before the Selectmen pulled the revenues from the budget during the buildup to the override, was raised by $40 to $200 per residential unit in a 3-2 vote (Rotondi and Selectman John DePinto opposed a return of the refuse fee).
Based upon a recommendation from Town Administrator David Ragucci, $500,000 of the $1.3 million in rubbish revenues would be dispersed amongst municipal departments in the following fashion:
•$75,000 would go to the police department, in order to avert layoff of patrolman. A police lieutenant and sergeant would still be cut from the force.
•$75,000 would be restored to the fire department budget, again saving one firefighter's position. Three other firefighting jobs would still be lost.
•$40,000 would be returned to the public library, which had its budget slashed by $120,000. The money would be put back into the book budget, but the library would still lose its state certification and have reduced hours.
•A little over half of the $210,000 cut from the Public Works Dept. would be restored, resulting in the continuation of curbside leaf pick-up, hazardous waste days, park and field maintenance, and the cost-free recycling sticker program.
• $40,000 would be slated for Minuteman Vocational School tuitions.
•$160,000 would be earmarked for the Northeast Vocational School, where local enrollments have reportedly risen by 12 students.
•Nothing would be returned to the Senior Center budget, which was slashed by $30,000.
•The Youth Commission would also not receive any funds, meaning the department will continue to operate through private donations.
According to Supt. Dr. Les Olson, the School Committee recently voted to restore a number of programs and positions previously axed when the override question failed last June.
With the $800,000 from the trash fee revenues, the school system was able to avert many stinging reductions, including the eradication of K-8 arts and physical education, as well as the loss of the entire high school athletic program.
The following positions and programs would not be restored under the current school budget, which will reportedly end-up 3.5 percent higher than last year's spending plan, if Town Meeting approves the adjustments:
•Three library layoffs will result in the closure of the facilities in the district's elementary schools;
•One school nurse position will not be restored;
•Two custodians will be laid-off in September, decreasing the availability of school facilities after hours.
Let's stick to the plan
In a failed bid to change the split between the school and municipal sectors, Selectman Paul Rotondi argued that the entire School Committee and four of five Selectmen had penned an agreement that called for a 50-50 division of all new revenue sources.
That agreement, which became popularly known as the "Rotondi Plan", was signed prior to the placement of a $3 million override question on June's Special Election ballot.
According to Rotondi, he believed that the tax increase had narrowly failed at the polls because of widespread mistrust of government officials.
By reneging on the five-year financial plan just four months later, the Selectman warned, the town fathers were playing into that mistrust by not following through with what was pitched as a change in the way the town does business.
"To me, the issue is very clear. We told the people we were going to manage our money differently," said Rotondi. "We told them there would be a 50-50 split of revenue. We told them we were going to rebuild the stabilization. And the people said they didn't trust us. To me this is a perfect example."
"It's almost like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. You say you support the schools, but you didn't vote for the trash fee," Selectmen Chair George Seibold shot back.
"Hey, I was out in front while you were sitting in the shadows," the former School Committee member retorted, referring to his very public support of the override question.
Rotondi would later claim that according to his estimates, the school department would end-up $200,000 short of the $1.5 million it had asked for prior to the override vote, if it received an $800,000 share of the rubbish fee money.
Included in that $1.3 million of recouped revenues was $350,000 for collective bargaining salary increases. The town has budgeted nothing for its employee unions this year.
"If I do some math, they were down $1.5 million. They end up $200,000 below what their original total funded budget was," the Selectman contended. "From an equal budget, we're down $1 million still and they're down $200,000. That's not my understanding of equal."
However, according to School Committee Chair Maureen Soley, many of the figures Rotondi was listing were already calculated into the base budget presented during the fall and spring.
Further referring to School Supt. Dr. Les Olson's estimation that 20 percent of the district's workforce has left Stoneham, Soley defended the $350,000 for salary increases.
"It's been in the March budget. It's been in the budget in May, April, and June. It's been in the small version of the budget and the large version. It's a very modest cost of living increase for the people who are there," Soley responded.
"We've lost over 40 employees in the past couple of years. I don't think the town has lost the same," the School Committee Chair furthered.
According to Selectmen veteran Bob Sweeney, the sole official to not ink his name to the "Rotondi Plan", while the premise of a 50-50 split sounds nice, it doesn't work out in reality.
Specifically, the Selectman argued that different departments have different needs, and that the split of the trash fee money should be based upon that determination.
"It would be nice if everything was equal. I'm looking at the town as if we have 12 children. And all those kids have different needs. It's not equitable, but that's the way it is," Sweeney said.
"It's kind of sad that we're going down the road like this. When all is said and done, I think the departments will be happy with the share they get. I don't see any difference between this year and last year."
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