BOS prepares budget for review by Board of Finance

KENT — The Kent Board of Selectmen voted to approve their proposed budget of $2,718,940 at a special meeting held prior to a joint meeting with the Board of Finance that was held on Tuesday, March 29 (which was after press time for this newspaper). The total proposed budget as of Monday, March 28, for both municipal and education spending is $10,897,119, a 2.4 percent increase over the 2010-11 fiscal year. The new fiscal year begins July 1.That budget total includes, among other items, the selectmen’s budget, the Board of Education budget, the Region One School District assessment, the five-year capital plan and debt service that the town is paying for various projects, such as the renovation of Kent Center School. The Kent Board of Education budget, as of March 28, is $6,446,772, a 3.6 percent increase over this year’s spending plan. The municipal budget includes a 3.5 percent salary raise for all Town Hall employees who do not belong to a union. This raise does not apply to any employees who have union contracts, such as road crew members and Kent Center School employees. The salaries for the three selectmen, who all took pay cuts in the 2010-11 budget, have been restored in this budget plan. Last year, First Selectman Bruce Adams voluntarily took a cut of $5,000, while Selectmen Karren Garrity and George Jacobsen took cuts of 4 percent. “We are just bringing the salaries back up to where they were before those cuts were made,” Adams said. The restoration of the original selectmen’s salaries shows up on the budget as an 8.7 percent increase, but Adams assures voters that the selectmen will not be receiving the same 3.5 percent increase that other Town Hall employees will be getting. The health insurance category shows a decrease of 8.4 percent, which can be attributed to last year’s switch to a new insurance provider. Since the switch was made after the budget had been approved, the lower price for insurance was not reflected in this year’s budget, but will be in the budget for the coming year. Large increases were made for professional development in the departments of Planning and Zoning, which had a 300 percent increase in funding for training, and Inland Wetlands, which had a 500 percent increase from $50 to $300 for training. The increases are necessary to train a replacement for Land Use Officer Jennifer Calhoun, who recently resigned after having a baby. The land use officer works closely with both Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands.There is also a 150 percent increase, from $10,000 to $25,000, for contingencies. The addition is to resolve “salary issues” that have come up, according to Adams, who said a “town office” recently came to him and pointed out a discrepency between the hours contracted and the actual hours worked. The office requested additional pay for those hours. Adams would not comment on which office it is.

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