FinCom, Bragan, and Leonard ask for level-services FY15 budgets
The Finance Committee, Town Administrator Tim Bragan, and Finance Director Lorraine Leonard have asked town departments to submit level-service budgets—not level-funded budgets—for FY2015. Level-service budgets may include any known increases in costs, such as a contractually required increase, but may not include any assumed increases, such as an assumption that office supplies will cost more next year. Bragan and Leonard are cautiously optimistic about state revenue collections to date and about local revenue projections, but they are mindful that the town needs to fund Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB). OPEB funding is something many other towns are struggling with. They have also not yet reconciled their calculations with FinCom’s calculations. Therefore, Bragan and Leonard encouraged departments to continue to be creative to find ways to reduce costs and to come up with ideas that may cost more at first but will later reduce costs. These ideas may be included in their budget requests. They also asked that departments include their “top single budgetary need that cannot be addressed within your level-service budget.” When money is tight, level-funded budgets or budgets with across-the-board cuts from the prior year are sometimes required.
Town Hall, cable STM articles recommended; solar articles deferred
Of the 12 articles that appear in the warrant for the upcoming Oct. 16 Special Town Meeting, eight have a financial impact on the town. The Finance Committee has approved three, rejected one, and deferred four.
After heated debate, FinCom voted to recommend Article I of the warrant, which is a request to appropriate additional funds for the Town Hall Building Project. The vote was 3-1-1, with Heidi Frank voting against it and Alan Frazer voting “present.” The debate began with a motion by Frazer against recommending this appropriation, but his motion was defeated 3-2. According to Town Administrator Tim Bragan, the amount of the request will be $1.1million, which Frank felt was simply too much to ask the town to come up with. Frazer stated his concern that the project will increase much more than $1.1million because “they haven’t opened up the walls yet.” Bragan pointed out that the amount includes a 10 percent contingency to address that concern.
FinCom did not take a position on the five solar articles because they did not have sufficient information on the fiscal impact. It was not clear how much the town would be giving up in tax revenues by allowing a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) as proposed by Articles 3 and 4 or how much the building permit fee would be reduced by adding community solar to the residential category or to what extent non-Harvard residents would benefit from this fee change. Three members will research the issues, and FinCom will meet on October 9 to discuss these articles further.
FinCom voted not to recommend reimbursing the Rantoul Trust Fund $480 as they did not feel it was warranted by the Board of Selectmen’s desire to pay a bill sooner.
In a surprisingly contentious discussion, FinCom voted on a 3-1-1 vote to recommend Article 9, which would amend the dog bylaws to change the penalty for not registering a dog from $15 per month to a flat fee of $50. This change is to come into compliance with a state law passed in the last fiscal year.
FinCom voted unanimously to recommend Article 11, which would provide additional funds to the Harvard Community Cable Access Committee, to be used for the Bromfield HCTV project.
