At Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, selectmen set the date of Oct. 28 for a Special Town Meeting to discuss ambulance billing, and announced a change to the date of the next Annual Town Meeting—from the end of March to May 2—as part of a revamped budget process announced by Town Administrator Tim Bragan.
Bragan unveiled a budget strategy designed to eliminate much of the back-and-forth that has become part of yearly budget negotiations. In an interview Wednesday he explained that this year, the budget process has begun many months earlier in order to allow for careful planning. He said that, for the coming year, the town will use a “top-down” spending approach. Based on total revenue projections, the Tri-Boards (Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and School Committee) will assign “spending targets” to each major department. Each department will then come back with the best possible operating plan to fit the assigned budget, he said, including information about any outside funds they may commit to raise through fundraising or user fees.
The new policy comes at the recommendation of the recently assembled Financial Impact Analysis Team (FIAT), whose members include Rick Maiore, Bill Johnson, Bruce Leicher, Bonnie Heudorfer, Elaine Lazarus, Victor Normand, Steve Rowse, and Bragan.
At Tuesday’s meeting BOS Chairman Leo Blair explained that the rationale for the change in Town Meeting date was to provide “reliable financial data before preparation of budgets. We want to go into the meeting with solid numbers this year,” Blair said. He added that the difference between the budget numbers projected by the Finance Committee last year and actual numbers was significant.
Selectman Peter Warren voiced concern about moving the meeting from late March. He said that Harvard’s Town Meeting has always been above average in attendance and suggested that local sports events and other conflicts might cause diminished attendance later in the spring.
Finance Committee Chairman George McKenna advised, “get the most reliable numbers possible.”
Bragan said Wednesday that by May “there’s more information about what’s happening at the state level.” He said that in the most recent budget cycle, numbers had to be revised at the last minute as new data from the state came in.
He said he is hopeful that the new approach will streamline the budgeting process, particularly given that the outlook for fiscal year 2010 is not strong. At Tuesday night’s meeting, he told the selectmen that the estimated budget for the year reflects level funding and no cost-of-living increases for town employees.
Bragan explained that while the town is looking at a predicted increase of approximately $500,000 to the total tax base, that will not be enough to offset decreases in revenue from both local receipts (particularly excise tax revenue), and “cherry sheet” (or state aid) receipts, due to decreased lottery revenues.
Note: Joe Hutchinson contributed to this article.
