Some veteran Finance Committee members are having trouble getting used to this year’s budget process. After the board had reviewed proposed fiscal 2010 budgets from the Council on Aging, the Finance Department, and the selectmen at last week’s Wednesday evening meeting, committee member Marie Sobalvarro commented that it is difficult to provide guidance to department heads when the Finance Committee doesn’t yet know the size of the deficit facing the town next year. In the past, Sobalvarro mused, town officials would calculate the projected deficit early on, revise that figure as new information became available, and work with department heads to develop the budget within known limits. But this year, the boundaries are still unknown, in large part because town officials have no confidence in the numbers they’re getting from the state.
Things should be clearer by the Feb. 28 meeting of the Finance Committee, School Committee, and selectmen, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told Sobalvarro. By then, he said, the finance board will have reviewed proposed fiscal 2010 budgets from the School Committee and the Library Trust, and will have a much better understanding of town spending proposals. The revenue side, though, will be much harder to pin down, he said.
