Selectmen Propose $9.487 Million Budget Plan

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday to pass a $9,487,222 town-side budget for Board of Finance consideration.

The plan represents a 2.88 percent increase over the approved 2011-2012 selectmen’s budget of $9,221,562.

The Board of Selectmen’s budget is only part of the town’s spending plan and along with the Board of Education budget will undergo Board of Finance scrutiny before being passed on to voters.

The selectmen’s budget consists of an operating budget, used for day-to-day activities such as salaries and services, and a capital improvement plan, which funds larger items such as vehicles and road maintenance.

The board’s capital improvement plan is proposed at $914,750, a 31.93-percent increase over the 2011-2012 amount of $693,355.

Although the percentage of capital increase seems large, it was really an area of concentration this year, first selectman Richard Barlow said.

The board, for example, wanted to increase its commitment to road maintenance again this year. Last year the town budgeted $400,000 and in October, taxpayers approved an additional $160,000 for roads from a previous year’s surplus.

This year, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner proposed $450,000 for road work, or pavement management, but Barlow and other selectmen chose to add $50,000 to that figure, partially from other savings. Those savings included a $15,000 reduction in the contingency fund, $4,800 in savings by eliminating the blood-pressure monitoring portion of a Friday walking program at the community center and a $12,000 reduction in the police vehicles account.

The $500,000 for road work gets the town a little closer to the $600,000 to $700,000 a 2011 pavement management study recommended the town spend in the area on an annual basis, Barlow said. The study rated the town’s roads and recommended several ways for the town to best use its funds.

“There was obviously a need to put more in the capital budget side,” Barlow said.

A capital study group has also recommended the town bond $7.5 million in major road improvements. The funds are part of a proposed bonding package under the board of finance’s consideration for a possible November referendum question(s).

The selectmen’s operating budget is now proposed at  $8,572,472, a 0.52-percent increase over the approved 2011-2012 plan.

A $75,134 rise in pension costs and $61,326 in health insurance made that a challenge, Barlow said.

Despite that, however, there are some new initiatives in the plan including an increase from 15 to 25 hours for the administrative assistant to the Social/Senior Services coordinator and the addition of a Geographic Information system.

Another new initiative in the budget, paid for from the Parks and Recreation Special Revenue Fund and a contribution from Canton Little League, would be an additional parks department seasonal employee, who will help maintain fields and other parks infrastructure.

The Board of Selectmen’s proposal, due to a few found savings and reductions, is trimmed from the 3.2-percent increase Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner initially proposed earlier in the month.

During a budget workshop Selectman Lowell Humphrey had proposed some further reductions, including cuts in the hours of some town employees in a proposal to get the increase down to 2 percent. He said he supported the budget Wednesday due to some initiatives he supported and his belief that after Board of Finance action, the budget will reflect his goal “no greater then a 2% increase.”

See the latest budget information and timelines at the town’s Web site.