Representatives from many of the town’s boards (Finance Committee, Library, Economic Development Committee, Planning Board, School Committee, Police Department, Agricultural Advisory Committee, and others) joined the Board of Selectmen (BOS) at an “all-boards” meeting last week. Selectman Bill Johnson gave a PowerPoint presentation in which he outlined a proposed “five-year strategic planning initiative.” Speaking about the town’s so-called structural deficit, Johnson explained that the deficit is estimated to be approximately $1 million in five years. “We need a long-term plan to balance the five-year capital and operating budgets in the face of declining revenues and an inherent structural deficit,” he said. “The plan should be driven by a comprehensive evaluation and prioritization of long-term needs and objectives.”
At Johnson’s suggestion, Town Administrator Tim Bragan created a calendar for the months of July and August that marked out timelines for departments, boards, and committees to develop goals and deliverables for fiscal years 2013 through 2017. Results are due to Bragan on Sept. 7 for compilation. The compiled goals and deliverables will be reviewed at another all-boards meeting on Sept. 13.
The calendar also included deadlines for applications for budget funding sources: Sept. 29 for fiscal 2013 Community Preservation Committee (CPC) applications, Oct. 4 for Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC) requests, and Nov. 1 for Finance Committee (FinCom) budgets for fiscal years 2013 through 2017. A “quad board” meeting, including the BOS, FinCom, CPIC, and School Committee, will be held Nov. 16 to review compiled budget information.
The BOS five-year strategic planning initiative brings to four the number of planning processes that affect the town’s finances and directions, the other three being the Master Plan update process, FinCom’s five-year financial planning process, and the state budget process dictated by law, in which each town in the commonwealth is required to submit a balanced budget.
