(1/11/07) On January 10th, Town Manager Larry Shaffer sent his “Letter of Transmittal” with preliminary budget details to the Select Board and the Finance Committee. It is available now on the Town's web site.
The two-page letter is followed by two pages of prioritized “budget restorations and additions,” should funds become available. They amount to $1,028,892. Of that number, $710,739 are “restorations,” meaning they would restore those proposed cuts to current spending; and $318,153 are for “additions,” representing desired new spending. The Town Manager's budget ranks this list with A and B priority status, with $799,587 ranking as A, and $229,305 ranking as B. Both A and B status items are a mix of restorative and additional spending. Expenses related to employee benefits are not included in these totals, and they would be saved or spent, depending on whether targeted positions were eliminated or filled.
The final two pages of the document list the proposed allotment for each municipal budget category as compared to FY05 through FY07. The overall proposal meets the Finance Committee's recommendation not to exceed a 1% increase over FY07 budget figures. In FY07, $1 million in reserve funds were spent to balance the budget, and no reserve spending is planned for this year.
Shaffer was not available to answer questions today. According to staff in his office, he is on vacation until January 22nd.
The complete Budget Book, outlining the Town Manager's full spending proposal for FY08 will be available on the Town web site on January 16th.
At Thursday's Finance Committee meeting, Finance Director John Musante said that he and the Town Manager will present that committee with a comprehensive picture of the budget proposal at its January 25th meeting.
An informative step-by-step overview of the budget process is on the Town web site. A public information session about the FY08 budget will be held Tuesday, January 30th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Town Room, on the second floor of Town Hall.
-- Stephanie O'Keeffe
Comments
The rookie Town Manager is demonstrating lousy leadership. The Finance Committee said to keep it to no more than a 1% budget increase yet the Select Board/Town Manager component of the budget increases by 7.6% and the overall town segment of the budget bloats by 12.2%. But Public Safety is down 2.9%. Yeah, great prioritization there.
And why put a Building Inspector on the hit list? That’s about the only department that actually makes money via inspections. And isn’t Amherst hostile enough towards business without causing delays in new constructions and renovations?
Posted by: Larry Kelley | January 12, 2007 09:31 AM
The overall municipal budget increase is 1%. Most of the functional areas (public safety, DPW, etc.) are reduced. The increase of 12.2% is in one of those functional areas (General Government, which includes all the financial, personnel and administrative functions that keep the town running. It also includes employee health insurance, which shows no sign of leveling off).
This is only the beginning of the budget discussion. One good place to hear questions and answers will be the Finance Committee's meeting with the Town Manager on January 25.
Posted by: Eva Schiffer | January 12, 2007 08:52 PM