Selectmen want to delay budget vote until June
Published on May 7th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen plan to implore citizens on Thursday night to delay passage of Stoneham's FY'09 budget until this June, when a Special Town Meeting will convene to take-up the matter.
According to Selectman Chair John DePinto, town officials hope that Stoneham's employee unions will agree to join the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC) by that date.
Town Administrator David Ragucci has estimated that the GIC approval could save Stoneham as much as $1 million in health premium costs.
If that shift to the state's health insurance pool was approved by the town's collective bargaining units, the Selectmen plan to re-impose a trash fee for the ensuing year in order to avoid a series of planned cuts to the school department.
Last February, the Selectmen agreed that the refuse charge would not be instituted in FY'09, unless municipal workers consented to joining the GIC before the start of this Monday's Annual Town Meeting.
Although that deadline his since passed, Town Administrator David Ragucci has now entered into preliminary negotiations on the health insurance change with union officers, who had refused to convene such talks until last March.
Just prior to this Monday's Town Meeting session, the Selectmen, gathering just a half-hour before the annual assembly's scheduled start, formally voted to recommend that discussions on this year's budget be stalled until next month.
Selectman Paul Rotondi, who casually tipped-off local citizens to the change in plans on Monday, claimed that the board wants to avoid another round of public panic and bad publicity over proposed athletic program reductions and teacher layoffs - which marred the town's image last year when similar budget cuts were proposed and then averted at the last hour.
"We want to adjourn the meeting until June," said Rotondi, revealing the last minute proposal to Town Meeting members on Tuesday night. ""We'll have a better feel about what our costs are. We'll have a better feel about what our revenues are."
"We're not trying to pull any surprises on you," Rotondi insisted. "We're trying to keep things logical. We don't want all the negative publicity. It's going to come around again."
However, with DePinto sensing that Stoneham's citizens are itching to pass some form of a budget this Thursday, the Selectmen Chair urged his counterparts on Tuesday night to prepare themselves for deliberations on the FY'09 spending plan.
Heeding that advice, the Selectmen unanimously directed Town Administrator David Ragucci to adjust the FY'09 spending plan by incorporating more aggressive revenue calculations.
Ragucci, who already adjusted his initial draft budget just last month to account for a $394,000 influx in state aid and new growth, has previously advocated for more conservative estimates of state aid and other revenues.
"What I would suggest is that the Town Administrator go back and look at all revenue, any place where we might be able to increase revenue, and make that adjustment," Rotondi suggested.
Although no formal vote has been taken, the several Selectmen are reportedly eyeing a trash fee of at least $100 for next year.
Selectmen veteran Robert Sweeney alluded to that possibility at Town Meeting on Monday night, suggesting that such a charge would avert any major cuts to the school system, while also pipe-in the necessary funding for the library to maintain its certification.
During the meeting on Tuesday night, rookie Selectman Richard Gregorio even suggested a distribution of the funding, with 66 percent going to the school department, six percent going towards the public works department, and the remainder being placed into stabilization.
The Selectmen had previously planned to give some of that money to the library, but a Town Meeting action on Monday night - which authorized a $205,000 stabilization account withdrawal for the library - rendered that need moot.
On Monday night, Stoneham citizens voted on about half of the warrant articles slated for discussion at this month's Annual Town Meeting, which was continued until this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Deliberations on the budget article, the 33rd and last proposal on the warrant, will likely take place on Thursday night. The annual assembly will also voice their stance on a half-dozen articles during a Special Town Meeting, which will probably be opened after the Annual Town Meeting closes.
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