As the Board of Selectmen made required adjustments to its budget Wednesday night, members retained a part-time teen librarian position but cut a proposed part-time fire/EMS administrator.
In all the board, due to the Board of Finance action night before, had to trim $85,000 from its proposed 2013-2014 operating budget and $92,500 from capital improvements, or infrastructure needs.
Several selectmen expressed frustration over the way the Board of Finance trimmed the proposals despite the fact that selectmen had presented budgets that average half a percent increase on average over the prior three years.
“If that keeps up we’re going to have to cut services,” selectman David Gilchrist said.
First Selectmen Richard Barlow said he felt the finance board did not respect selectmen’s average increase of half a percent over the past several years.Wednesday selectmen said they did not want to make the cuts but ended up doing so in a manner suggested by Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner.
Those cuts were:
Operating budget
- Contingency — $13,726
- Police administration, software support - $1,000
- Police patrol — $17,264
- Fire/EMS administrator — $42,510
- Senior/Social Services Supervisor Salary — $4,000 (proposed raise of $12,000 now at $8,000)
- Employee Benefits — $6,500 (Skinner said the last one is due to anticipated savings the town can achieve.)
Capital Improvements
- Police Dispatch console $65,000 (money was to fund half of replacement)
- Collinsville Fire Station generator — $27,500
Selectmen Lowell Humphrey voted against the plan. He had advocated salvaging the part-time fire/EMS administrator position, even if it meant hiring one for half a year, cutting the teen librarian and saving elsewhere.
Other selectmen also spoke strongly in favor of the position but resisted the idea of a half-year, saying it might now be sustainable.
Several selectmen said the volunteer department is essentially the town’s largest with many initiatives, regulations and other factors an administrator could oversee.
Selectmen have also decried what they say is the department’s lack of cooperation in following bid procedures and purchase order policies when purchasing items for the department, including meals and retention fund items.
“There’s a crying need for someone to manage that department,” Gilchrist said.
Including the selectmen's budget, Board of Education and Board of Finance, the overall 2013-2014 budget is proposed at $35,048,745, a 1.62 percent increase over the 2012-2013 approved budget of $34,491,631.
Those figures include the garage and roads projects proposed for Spring referendum and would come with a 2.2 percent increase in the tax rate. If one or both projects do not pass, the numbers would be lower. See more details in this earlier story.
For more on the budget, including original proposals, see the town's web site.
Gilchrist has indicated he will petition the budget to referendum the same days as the projects. That is slated for May 22.
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