Finance Committee Article 17 Update

[NOTE from Alisa: this is from the TMCC one-way listserv]

The following information is from the Finance Committee and will be posted as a document on the Town web site on Thursday.

From: Finance Committee
To: Town Meeting
May 30, 2007

ARTICLE 17. SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS AND FUNDING SOURCES

As Town Meeting continues its work on Article 17, the operating budgets for municipal services, libraries and schools, there are several remaining parts of the budget for which amendments to Finance Committee motions are anticipated. This is the list, as we know it today. There may be others.

Planning/Conservation/Inspection Services – Recommendation of the Select Board to increase the appropriation for Conservation Services by $12,000 for seasonal staff at Puffers Pond and trail work.

Community Services – Recommendation of the Select Board for $77,812. Within the Community Services budget, that board would like to see $31,000 added to Human Service Agencies; a decrease of $24,000 in tax support for LSSE; and an increase of $70,812 to open War Memorial Pool and the wading pools for the summer. There are two other expected amendments. One would request an increase for Human Service Agencies of $117,000; the other would reduce the Community Services budget by $100,000, presumably from LSSE.

Library Services – a proposed increase in tax support of $19,000 to reflect new fine receipts.

Regional Schools Assessment. The amount of money required for the Amherst assessment in support of Regional Schools is still unsettled. There are conflicting views as to whether Amherst is already obligated to fund assessments at the 3% increase level Recent opinions seem to support that it is. The recommendation in the Finance Committee Report to Town Meeting is for a 1% assessment increase. Last week, the Regional School Committee (RSC) proposed a compromise calling for 2% assessment increases for all of the towns of the Region, and the Finance Committee voted to recommend the compromise. If Amherst Town Meeting votes the 2% amount, the RSC would need to vote to approve assessments at that level by a two-thirds vote, something that might or might not happen. A 3% Amherst assessment requires $238,081 above the amount currently budgeted; a 2% assessment requires an additional $119,041.

Funding the increases.

If Town Meeting were to approve all of the additions and neither of the reductions, the result would be a total increase in spending of $337,853 to $456,893, depending on the amount of the Regional Schools assessment. At present, the only existing source of funds to cover this amount is the $100,000 made available when Town Meeting reduced the General Government budget by that amount. Two other potential sources are reserves (Free Cash) and a Proposition 2 1/2 override.

The Finance Committee recommends that all of the available $100,000 be used as partial funding for the Regional assessment. Doing so means any of the other amendment increases would have to be paid for with budget cuts, spending reserves or funds from a successful override referendum. None of the alternatives is a good. Budgets are all very tight already. The Finance Committee’s recommendation to use no reserves to balance the FY 08 budget is an important element in maintaining the financial well being of the Town. An override referendum this year would surely decrease the possibility of including an override next year as part of a carefully thought out financial plan for the Town. The cost of an override election – about $12,000 – is not included in the FY 08 General Government appropriation, and this functional area has already been reduced significantly.

The Committee’s recommendation on how to fund any increases that Town Meeting might vote would have to take into account the specific amount and the practicalities of raising that amount. Our first preference is that the need for additional funds not be voted, except for any necessary amount over $100,000 for the Regional Schools assessment.