Specific FY 2012 cuts requested, boards now move to public hearings

FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Finance, after reviewing the proposed spending plans for the town and the Lee H. Kellogg School, asked for one specific cut of $5,000 from the Board of Selectmen and a total of $12,000 in reductions from the Board of Education.The requests were made during a special meeting Monday, March 28.First Selectman Pat Mechare presented the latest version of proposed spending plan for the town. The total, $1,542,790, is exactly the same as this year’s budget appropriation.Town officials, elected and unelected, have agreed to forgo pay raises, Mechare said. Hours for an administrative assistant for the selectmen have been cut back, from six hours per week to three and a half.Mechare said that in previous years the town had planned for 200 hours of Highway Department overtime, but in looking at records from the last five years discovered the number of actual hours was closer to 90. So the spending plan includes 125 hours of overtime, which covers the recent historical average and allows enough leeway to cover contingencies. That action took $8,668 off the bottom line.Grants to public health organizations were questioned by finance board member Tom Grayson, who wondered if a 5 percent reduction in the grants would be possible.Mechare said she thought the services made possible in part by the grants, especially those to the Northwest Visiting Nurse Association ($10,027), the Housatonic Youth Service Bureau ($3,585) and Community Mental Health Affiliates ($4,500), provide needed services that are not covered by other organizations.Mechare noted the grants have not increased in recent budgets. “I think these investments are well worth the cost.”Finance board member Chuck Lemmen observed that the state is reducing aid to towns on such services, and finance board member Lou Timolat said that some years back, when the Board of Finance requested data on case load from the organizations, they actually ended up increasing the grants.The $5,000 cut requested by the finance board came from one line — “Town Farm Property,” in the Recreation Commission line.Mechare said the $5,000 in this year’s budget is for mapping out and creating a walking trail on the land adjoining the town swimming pool. Discussions for the rest of the property have included ball fields — but those will have to wait, as the Board of Finance asked that the $5,000 line for fiscal 2011-12 be eliminated.Other than that, the finance board was satisfied that the selectmen had produced what Timolat called “a bare-bones budget.” Finance board Co-chairman John Allyn expressed concern that the Highway Department would get behind on road repairs, however.Lee Kellogg costsAndrea Downs, chairman of the Board of Education, and Kellogg Principal Maria Bulson were on hand to discuss the proposed spending plan for the elementary school. The most recent version calls for a total of $1,737,584, a decrease of 2.9 percent or $51,135.The town’s Region One School District assessment is up sharply, however — $336,943, an increase of 32.9 percent, to $1,361,216. The increase reflects the larger number of Falls Village students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and will continue to be a factor for the next three budget cycles.Therefore, coming into the finance board meeting, the total proposed education spending for 2011-12 was $3,098,800, an increase of $285,000 or 10.2 percent.The finance board has been discussing ways of coming up with an extra $336,000 for months. Options include cutting the Kellogg budget, tapping into the town’s reserves, cutting municipal spending and a mill rate increase.Timolat made a motion to ask the Board of Education for a bottom line reduction of $12,000. Combined with the $51,125 decrease in the Kellogg plan, and about $40,000 in unexpended funds from the current fiscal year, it addresses about one third of the needed $336,000. The motion passed.From the comments Monday night it seems unlikely the finance board will ask the selectmen for any additional cuts in municipal spending. The next step is the public hearing, which will be Monday, April 25, 7 p.m. at Kellogg. The public hearing is the last chance for taxpayers to advocate for specific changes in either the school or town spending plans before a vote at a town meeting.

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