Town, schools eye $376,000 in further budget cuts
Special Town Meeting expected to review more projected red ink
After Town Meeting voted to adopt fiscal 2003 budgets for the town and schools in June, another shoe was waiting to drop.
It came in late July, when acting Gov. Jane Swift announced $355 million cuts to balance the state budget. Among the cuts were those in local aid.
For Arlington, the decreases mean a shortfall of $375,927.
But that's only the start, according to figures made public at the Aug. 12 Budget & Revenue Task Force meeting. Nancy Galkowski, deputy town manager, handed out a spreadsheet showing projected shortfalls for the next two years -- $3,287,841 (fiscal 2004) and $8,165,066 (2005).
To see the revised state "cherry sheet," which is a report about state aid, see these two links (.pdf files):
To deal with these forecasts, selectmen at their Sept. 23 meeting expect to call a Special Town Meeting, to be held in October.
"You have to deal with the current problem now, and not wait until fall," Selectmen Charles Lyons said. In response, Town Manager Phil Farrington and school Superintendent Kay Donovan must come up with a plan to make those cuts as soon as possible.
It is expected that the School Committee and Board of Selectmen will receive a list of new reductions in September.
In June, Town Meeting accepted budgets totaling $85,888,614. The school-spending plan was $32,000,100. For town-budget details >
Now it's back to the drawing boards, as Selectman Diane Mahon urged a fair review of all budget lines. She said officials owed that to the public before "we come back seeking an override."
The task force, composed of town and school officials who handle fiscal matters, took action after hearing from Alan Tosti, Finance Committee chairman. He recommended calling for a Special Town Meeting, to freeze all town and school spending and make reductions to close the gap, which would be split between town and schools.
Donovan smiled at that suggestion. "We're trying to deal with other losses," she said, citing $140,000 in grants, including those to promote tobacco control.
Under the already adopted school budget, a number of positions had to be cut. Under the approved town budget, police and fire positions have gone unfilled.
Apart from local aid – which fell to $18,118,541, from the $18,616,604 reported in June – Galkowski said health insurance costs remain a budget buster, rising at 18 percent.
As to aid, Rep. Jay Kaufman said he was shocked when the proposed state budget did not cut aid by 10 percent, as had been feared. As it turns out, aid was not cut enough, to allow for the decline state tax receipts, among key revenues down since last Sept. 11.
Rep. Jim Marzilli said the state is looking at $1 billion shortfall for next year. "Step up to the tough stuff," he said. "We will back you; we will fight for you."
Farrington said he wanted the superintendent and him to have "as much leeway as possible" to work together to decide the $376,000 in cuts.
Town Treasurer John Bilafer commented about the use of free cash. He said it was "not crazy at all to maintain reserves during a recession. No one takes all the money out of the bank.
"We need to look at budgets on a two-year basis and lay out the projected deficits for 2004 to a Special Town Meeting in the fall. A voluntary freeze won't work."
Lyons added: "If we can't cut $375,000 [now], then we lose all credibility with the public."
The Budget & Revenue Task Force will meet again Monday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. in the Selectmen's Hearing Room, second floor, Town Hall, where the manager and superintendent will lay out their proposed cuts.
The Board of Selectmen next meets Monday, Sept. 9, at 7:15 p.m.
The School Committee next meets Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7:30 p.m., in its sixth-floor room, Arlington High School.
At their Sept. 23 meeting, selectmen will call for a Special Town Meeting, so Town Meeting members
can vote on the budget cuts.
-- Bob Sprague
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