BUDGET SEASON
Higher tax levy in Milton

By COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
courtney@miltonindependent.com

Milton’s Selectboard unanimously approved an increased fiscal year 2013 budget on Monday, Jan. 16.

The general fund budget shows a 4.7 percent increase from fiscal year 2012. The $6,463,674 budget is a $292,324 increase. The amount raised by taxes went up 4.2 percent, an increase of $187,753, to $4,640,415.

Town Manager Brian Palaia said there aren’t surprises in this year’s budget. The Selectboard only reduced Palaia’s recommended figure by $4,060.

“They’re realistic costs that we’ll do our best to manage and not spend more than we have to,” Palaia said.

Palaia attributed 20 percent of the increase to machinery and equipment costs, including new vehicles. The town is also adding several new staff and increasing others’ hours.

Capital items

Besides ballot items, the town plans several larger purchases to catch up on the capital improvement plan. The board allocated $182,400 for the capital budget.

These projects include:

• $64,000 for two all-wheel drive police cruisers
• $85,000 for half the cost of a 14-yard tandem dump truck (other half funded in FY14)
  
• $25,000 to continue the culvert replacement program
  
• $5,400 for a walk-behind mower (augmented with $2,100 from capital reserve)
  
• $3,000 to replace a copy machine in the Town Clerk’s office. Another $3,000 is already set aside.

The Selectboard recognized many town vehicles are in need of replacement, particularly highway and police cars.

The police department purchased a new Chevrolet Tahoe in FY12 and has ordered a 2013 Ford Interceptor all-wheel drive sedan, also with FY12 funds, to replace a 2005 Crown Victoria with 130,800 miles. The two in FY13’s proposed budget would get the department back on its desired replacement schedule, Palaia said.

“It really doesn’t make sense to put more money every year into a vehicle that’s just aging,” he said, noting that the town tries to replace cruisers before they hit the 100,000-mile mark.

The department would get rid of a 2007 and 2008 Crown Victoria, which will have 112,000 and 125,800 miles, respectively, when they retire. The two cars have cost a combined $5,413 in repairs in just the last year, according to Cpl. Scott Philbrook, the department’s fleet maintenance officer.

Philbrook said instead of the regular three-year, 36,000-mile warranty, the town is aiming instead for 100,000-mile warranties since cruisers can rack up to three times the miles as a typical car in a year.

Board Chairman Lou Mossey said any repairs on new vehicles would be within warranty, unlike those for the late 2000s cruisers.

There’s a similar story for the highway truck: the 2004 International, which will likely be replaced in FY14, has about 115,000 miles on it and has cost $24,000 in repairs in the last two years, Public Works Supervisor Dustin Keelty said.

Mossey said it’s sensible to go back to replacing trucks and cars, even if it ups taxes this year.

“In the long run, it’s cheaper to have that type of program rather than keeping vehicles beyond their useful life,” he said. “You run the risk of having an unsafe vehicle that the employees are using, and we can’t risk safety.”

Other capital projects have different funding sources:

• $10,000 for three years to replace the fire department’s AVON boat. If passed by voters, ballot Article V would create a Fire and Rescue reserve fund, starting with a ¾ cent contribution, raising about $80,000, Palaia said. While the current boat isn’t in terrible shape, “We just recognize it’s an older model, and it’s going to have problems at some point,” Palaia said. “We’re trying to set aside funds so that we can replace it should the need arise.”
  
• $10,000 for a radar cart for the police department, funded half from capital reserve funds and half from impact fees
  
• $30,000 for fire hydrant replacements from the water fund balance
  
• $18,700 for a valve replacement on Westford Road, paid with the water fund balance

The radar cart and water/wastewater projects are all tax neutral in FY13, Palaia said.

Staffing increases

The town also seeks to increase its workforce. If the budget passes, the town will add:

• Finance director, budgeted for $59,000 plus benefits
• Water/wastewater equipment operator, $36,000, funded from water and wastewater enterprise funds. This will have no tax impact in FY13, Palaia said.
• Library part-time staff, 433 hours/year for $4,165
  
• 2 hours to Recreation Coordinator Kym Duchesneau’s 23-hour workweek, budgeted for $2,000. This increase reflects more demand for recreational services, Palaia said.
  
• 2 hours per week for Bob Ware, assistant to the assessor, budgeted for $2,879, funded by the reappraisal fund
• $25,666, about one-third of new police officer Ed Larente’s salary and benefits, from contingency funds. Larente’s salary is funded by a federal grant for three years; the town will spread out the cost so there’s not a spike in the fourth year.

Palaia said many large towns have finance directors that take care of the books. In Milton, Clerk/Treasurer John Cushing wears this hat and is in favor of another person monitoring the internal controls of the town, Palaia said.

With a director, Cushing’s role would be managing cash and truing up the director’s books.

The director would report to the town manager. Mossey said this arrangement will ensure someone else knows the town’s finances when Cushing retires – which he’s threatened to do for years.

Palaia said the water/wastewater operator would be a seasonally effective staff person. The new hire would help the public works operations division through the winter months and assist in maintaining the town’s growing water and sewer operation, he said.

Ups and downs

There were other ups and downs in this year’s budget, as reflected in Palaia’s final budget message:

• Increase of $12,246 due to 2012 being an election year
• Increase of $26,150 in highway maintenance, fuel and salt, due both to a new budgeting formula and an attempt to get closer to historical costs; however, the entire department budget is down $18,230.
• Increase of $4,720 for planning Milton’s 250th Birthday event
• Decrease in $2,105 for information technology

Ballot items

Besides general budget approval, the ballot will contain nine items:

• Article IV asks voters to approve bonding for a $450,000 fire truck to replace the 1980 tower truck
• Article V is to approve the aforementioned fire/rescue reserve fund
• Article VI asks for $800,000 in bonds to reconfigure the Railroad Street/Route 7/Middle Road intersection
• Article VII seeks to create a reserve fund for road and sidewalk projects, starting with a ½ cent
• Article VIII is tax neutral and asks voters to pledge 75 percent of both the municipal and state education tax increment for the Town Core tax increment financing district financing plan
• Article IX asks voters to approve $395,000 in bonds to complete the village core sewer project
• Article X, another bond project, is for $580,000 to improve the water system on River Street, Rugg Avenue and Kienle Road and to pay for intersection improvements on Lake Road and Route 7.

Other items ask voters to elect officers and accept the town report.

(See more information on each ballot item in subsequent issues of the Independent.)

Mossey and Palaia share concerns about presenting an increased budget to voters but agree a balanced budget year after year is neither realistic nor practical.

“We are showing growth in the town, so I think we need to match that growth with services,” Mossey said, noting these improvements can entice development. “There is some cost associated with that.

“We’re on track to maintain the services the community desires,” he continued.
Palaia said a flat-lined budget will catch up sooner or later.

“They’re costs that you’re going to have to face sooner or later, and if you don’t face them sooner, they get more expensive,” he said.

Copies of the proposed budget are available in the Milton Public Library and Town Manager’s office. Palaia’s budget message is online at www.milton.govoffice2.com.