The town’s budget prospects for fiscal year 2010 are getting bleaker by the day. Town Administrator Tim Bragan warned department heads this week that they can’t count on level funding next year and should plan accordingly. The warning came on the heels of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi’s prediction Monday that Massachusetts cities and towns will face a 5 to 10 percent reduction in local aid next year, which would likely result in layoffs of police, firefighters, and teachers in many communities. According to news reports, DiMasi said he will propose legislation that would allow municipalities to soften the blow by joining the state’s health insurance program without union approval. In Harvard and elsewhere across the state, healthcare costs are a reliable budget-buster for businesses, municipalities, and private citizens alike.
Even level funding would cause real pain for town departments, and particularly for the schools. Finance Director Lorraine Leonard told the School Committee Monday night that in a level-funded budget, each department would have to absorb any increased costs within that figure. That includes increased health-care costs for town employees, the bulk of whom work for the schools. Asked to put a figure on those costs, Leonard estimated a $200,000 increase town-wide for healthcare, $100,000 of that for the schools. That means that the fiscal year 2010 school budget will likely have to absorb $100,000 in additional spending over which the schools have no control. The board agreed on the need to schedule another budget meeting before the end of the year to wrestle with that probability.
