Regular Warrant: Voters Tackle Budget

     When Town Meeting voters resumed work Tuesday night, they zipped through most of the remaining articles on this year’s warrant. This included sending a proposed Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion for the Jonathan Bourne Public Library to the polls on May 20.
     When the meeting ended Tuesday a little before 10:30 PM, just 10 articles remained, among them, a planned override for the police department, which would fund five new Bourne officers.
     Bourne voters almost finished approving the Annual Town Meeting articles deemed essential to the operation of town government on the first night of Town Meeting. Those included approval of the $49.9 million Fiscal Year 2009 operating budget.
     While Bourne draws lots to determine the order of all other articles, the essential articles, one through 10 on this year’s warrant, were taken in order.
     After the Special Town Meeting adjourned Monday night, and the Annual Meeting reconvened, voters made relatively short work of approving Article 1, dealing with the town’s required authorizations.  They also quickly approved Article 2, setting the salaries of selectmen, the town clerk, and the moderator, expressing some amusement at the announcement that Town Moderator Robert W. Parady received a $15 raise this year. That raise gives him an annual salary of $515.
     The Budget
     When it came time to discuss the operating budget, Article 3 on the warrant, Finance Committee Chairman Hal DeWaltoff Jr. presented an overview of town finances and then gave FinCom’s favorable recommendation as to the budget.
     Property tax revenue is going up only slightly, state aid is going down three percent, and local receipts are projected as decreasing 2.11 percent, according to the information presented to voters.
     The $49.9 million operating budget, as presented at Town Meeting, was balanced with the use of $650,478 in free cash.
     Selectmen and the finance committee had both met separately prior to Town Meeting and voted on some last-minute changes to the budget. Those changes were necessitated by the fact that the town would not be receiving as much in federal impact aid to schools as had been anticipated.
     A piechart shown to voters illustrated what percentage of the budget each of the town’s services represented. For example, schools were 41 percent of the budget and public safety, 10 percent.
     He mentioned the proposed addition of five new police officers, to be voted on after Town Meeting resumes on Monday, a targeted override that would add about $370,000 to the tax levy.
     The town’s total budget is $56.5 million, when capital spending, general articles such as those transferring money into reserve and stabilization funds, and some off-budget expenditures such as state assessments are taken into account.
     The Department of Integrated Solid Waste Management Enterprise budget of $15.1 million represents an increase of 8.4 percent over last year; the $1 million Sewer Enterprise budget is up 15.09 percent.
     After talking about the proposed Jonathan Bourne Library debt exclusion for $6.3 million, which was narrowly approved by voters on Tuesday, and the $1 million in proposed Community Preservation Act spending, Mr. DeWaltoff turned to the town’s reserve policies.
     According to those policies, he said, the town should have an amount equal to five percent of its operating budget in free cash and seven percent of that amount in a stabilization account. It should also have four months of healthcare costs set aside, and a debt service burden for past borrowings that does not exceed 10 percent of the town budget.
     He said that overall, capital spending included, the budget is balanced on close to a $1 million in free cash. He added, however, that there would be some turn-backs in unspent money at the end of this fiscal year. Those turn-backs are expected to offset some of that use.
     There will be $2.3 million in the town’s dedicated healthcare account, more than the policy calls for.
     He reported to voters that if all of the Town Meeting articles were approved, there would be $2.6 million in free cash and about the same in stabilization, which would be more than 5 percent in free cash, but less in stabilization than the amount for which the policy calls. The town would need $3.5 million in stabilization to meet the policy.
     Bourne is, however, in far better financial shape than many other towns in the state, he said.
     The long-term structural deficit is still there, however, he said. Long-term planning models project a $2.6 million deficit in FY 2010, increasing to $5.8 million by FY 2015.
     With the constraints of Proposition 2 1/2 , low new growth, rising energy costs, and other factors, combined with the pressure to fund schools and public safety, care for the elderly, and repair or replace the town’s aging infrastructure, something has to give.
     Mr. DeWaltoff said that the town is working on an integrated long-term plan that looks at when and how the town can afford to address some of its needs. Common sense says, however, that there will have to be an increase in taxes at some point in town, he said.
     Town Meeting voters approved the budget article unanimously.
     Capital Outlay
     The first article to be discussed Tuesday addressed the recommendations for capital spending made by the Capital Outlay Committee.
     Bourne voters approved the spending of $5.25 million for capital improvements, $3.52 million of which would be spent on behalf of, and ultimately paid for, by the landfill enterprise operation.
     It was $22,000 of that which caused the most discussion. Mary Jane Mastrangelo, FinCom member and also a member of the Capital Outlay Committee, said that money would be used to identify sources of funding for a proposed $16 million to $28 million wastewater treatment plant to serve the north side of the canal, including Buzzards Bay.
     James A. Mulvey of Buzzards Bay moved that the question be divided, so that voters could vote on the study money separately from the rest of the recommendations, including $100,000 to look at police department facility needs, police cruisers, computers for town ambulances, and public works equipment.
     Mr. Mulvey told voters he thought the study was premature, particularly since the town was looking at using the 122-acre town-owned site on which the new elementary school is being built as a possible new site for a public safety/public works complex. That site was most mentioned as a site for the treatment plant.
     Mr. Mulvey heard that a final site for a wastewater plant had not been determined. Donald W. Cunningham, a board of health and wastewater advisory committee member, said that the town could not continue to rely on Wareham’s plant. Mr. Cunningham said he did not want the town to continue to do nothing.
     The motion to divide the question failed by voice vote.
     After some discussion on several of the studies being performed this year, voters approved all of the recommendations of the Capital Outlay Committee, 212 to 6.
     A motion was made to send a zoning bylaw change that updates a “Use Regulation” table back to the planning board for revisions.  Voters had seen some apparent inconsistencies in the proposed table. After Planning Board Chairman Christopher J. Farrell told voters the changes reflected current law but that the board was well aware that a comprehensive update of that law was necessary, that motion failed. The bylaw change was approved 222 to 11.
     Community Preservation Act
     Voters approved the recommendations of the Community Preservation Committee for the use of about $1 million in preservation act funding, which can only be used for affordable housing, historic preservation, recreation, and open space purposes. Bourne’s innovative housing partnership program, irrigation for Clark Field in North Sagamore, and improvements to previously purchased open space parcels, such as a deck overlooking Herring Pond, were among the approved uses.
     Other Articles
     Among the other articles approved by voters Tuesday were:
     * funding a reserve account to help pay for some of the town’s capital projects with any amount of the ISWM host community fee over $500,000, passed 203 to 0.
     * using $80,000 for a full evaluation of municipal facilities so that the town can set priorities as to the repair or replacement of its aging buildings.
     * changes to the town’s demolition delay bylaw that would exempt certain smaller projects involving historic structures from review.
     When Town Meeting recessed a few minutes before 10:30 PM, there were 10 articles remaining.
     Those include the targeted public safety override which, if approved by voters at the May 20 municipal election, would fund five officers, some of whom might be experienced transfers, along with their handguns, equipment, uniforms, and academy training.
     The finance committee says the requested override of about $370,000 would add 8 cents to the tax rate, translating to about $24 a year for the owner of real estate valued at $300,000.
     Three zoning bylaw changes, including one designed to encourage mixed-use development in village centers such as Buzzards Bay, changes to the Local Comprehensive Plan, and the creation of an Affordable Housing Trust are among issues yet to be discussed.
     Town Meeting resumes at 7:30 PM Monday at the Beth Bourne Auditorium at Bourne High School.