On Thursday, November 20, the Board of Selectmen held Session #2 of their Financial Workshop and reviewed a matrix prepared by the Town Manager which detailed possible areas for budget cuts in municipal departments.
The Selectmen discussed the question of priorities for more than two hours, but could not reach consensus as to a strategy for making the difficult cuts in the upcoming budget for FY10. Three theories were debated at length:
1) eliminate overtime, specifically in Police and Fire departments, thereby saving money without cutting essential positions in those departments,
2) make additional cuts in virtually all municipal departments, by shaving hours of operation and service levels, but preserving Police & Fire staffing as "Core, Essential Services" as long as possible, OR
3) begin with cuts in Police and Fire departments because they are the only departments which have not been decimated in the past few years' budget cuts.
The Selectmen's discussion of the "Twelve Questions" (Nov. 20 blog) was limited to Question 2 — municipal service priorities. Brief mention was made of Question 3 — the school budget, as a town-wide priority.
A critical piece of information, the cost savings from the various budget cutting options suggested by the Town Manager, was not available for last week's discussion.
Because nobody knows yet how deep the cuts will need to be or the magnitude of the dollars that will need to be trimmed to arrive at a balanced budget for FY10, the BOS needs to rank order all the options, in order to clearly communicate THEIR priorities. This priority-ranking will guide the Town Manager as he begins to draft the municipal budget; it will help the Finance Committee in their deliberations; and it will inform the School Committee as they share in the pain of another year of Shrewsbury's structural deficit.
The Selectmen will resume their discussion of the "Twelve Questions" at Session #3 of their Financial Workshop on Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00 PM. This meeting will be in the Selectmen's meeting room at Town Hall and will be televised on SMC Channel 30. If needed, Session #4 of the Financial Workshop will be held on Tuesday, December 2.
19 comments:
Why can't they see the forest from the trees? I don't understand how they can't figure out the core essential services- it's a no brainer really. The Fire and Police are clearly core services, so move on from there.
If they read the paper to see break ins are increasing and intentional fires due to the economy that should help them a little.
Why do they all have to fall into line and go along- come on BOS think out side the box and show you got the guts to do something different. Only member on there I would reelect is Ben- not because he can really do the job, but he's fearless in bringing things to the table. That's what's needed in these tough times.
Sick of the same old dog and pony show. But at least it is in line with the other shows on TV- not worth watching.
Last thursday Dan Morgado said and I quote "I know not to put the Town Meals on Wheels Drivers cut back in ever". The State will provide the drivers at no cost. Why is the town still paying for this? This was a pretty fair chunk of change. We're going to cut Teachers Cops and Firefighters while this is still in the budget? That aint right. Pandering to old people.
I think the amount was $26,000 for the Meals on Wheels drivers. After watching a Housing meeting in which Sharon Yager appeared, she mentioned the number of Sr. using their services is going down, but the "neediness" of those using the Sr. Ctr is it going up. I think we are paying for Shrewsbury's past... the farmers, blue collar workers without pensions and the women who did not work and thus only have a small SSI income, if even that.
Are the members of the BOS capable of listing priorities in order of importance? We will find out.
Maybe they should put more money in the budget for "Meals on Wheels" because some of the people who complain that "old" people get to much will probably be in need of services when they lose their hi-tech, high salary jobs along with the firemen, cops and teachers. Stop complaining about people who need services, you could be one of them someday.
And, to Missy Hollenback, what do you suggest we do with the blue collar workers without pensions? the eldery lady on SSI? Shall we shoot them or just let them starve and/or freeze to death?
Also, I am not elderly (but getting close).
Nobody's saying we should get rid of Meals on Wheels. That's just a bunch of bull&#!$. But if someone else is gonna pay for it, why should we?? It's just a matter of deciding which government agency is gonna foot the bill.
Geez, I am danged if I do and danged if I don't....I merely am pointing out why I think we have extremely needy elderly in town. It seems that the other towns who have Fed. $$ pay for MOW do not have the same problems we do with our elderly. My own grandmothers (in another state) were/are those without pensions, are blue collars workers farmers and small business owners. I am trying to explain the situation, and to say they HAVE NOTHING, and NEED HELP. They don't have stocks stashed away, or are sitting on thousands in real estate.
Maybe you have a solution? No one at least not me is suggesting eliminating social service programs. I am a bleeding heart liberal, believe in National Healthcare, a living wage, and an equal playing field for all. Maybe you might want to chat with the others who have told me that they don't want to pay for my socialist ideas. Although the muncipal budget is really going to be chopped, it would be nice if we could save all the social services, but that might not be a reality. Is using the $26K from town coffers the best use of money for this truly destitute group? Or would it be better to take the $26k in Fed money and then use the $26K to have an elderly day care program? A program in similar to Parker Road maybe, the poor elderly could be subsidized and the others could pay a small fee.
Sounds like you have a great deal of anger against those in the high tech and those with high salaries. Too bad, Mass High Tech Council has again given Shrewsbury a great score, this is an industry group saying Shrewsbury is a great place to locate your high tech business. I am glad they don't have a category for % of anti high tech residents.
I wish everyone with no salary and everyone with a high salary and everyone in between....peace and a happy Thanksgiving.
I dont think the above poster is anti high-tech or anti big-salary. I think he was saying that even THEY could one day could find them selves needing help. After all, jobs are being cut, people cant afford the big mortgages so many people in town have, the cost of raising a family, etc. I agree its not easy, but lets not put down people who dont have as much as others. I am a middle aged person,still working, have a paid off mortgage, and my children are grown. And, I still feel for the people who are needy and hope they, and all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Please count your blessings.
At the end of the day we need to have a discussion about what government is supposed to provide. Thirty or forty years ago people here in MA would expect Public Education, Police, Fire, Water/Sewer and some Road Maintenance -- plowing, etc. But in the go-go years when there was plenty of $$, government expanded to include all kinds of social services and the building of Senior Centers and many other extras. I, personally, value ALL of the services including the extras and I am willing to pay more in taxes to preserve them. But the voters of Shrewsbury have spoken loud and clear that they are not willing to step up and pay for those extras. The bottom line is -- you can't have the full range of government services unless you are willing to pay for them. Shrewsbury is cheap -- dirt cheap -- and will begin eroding the nice town we all have enjoyed for years. It's too bad, but as our Selectmen like to say "the people have spoken".
It's time to fund the needs and say bye-bye to the wants. Needs are police, fire, roads, schools. Wants are mowing town fields, senior center, meals on wheels drivers, not a dime towards school sports, and the library.
A couple of years ago, I talked to a woman on the phone to see how she was going to vote on the override. I let her spend 15 minutes screaming at me, telling me she works for HomeLand Security and there was NO need to build that new firehouse on Centech and no need to have more fire, police etc. because of something called mutual assistance (I think that is what she said).
Do I know anything about this subject? Nope. Were we duped and stupid as she said? Are there programs other than those disputed MOW driver funding that can be tied to a federal or state program, but we have never done it because of tradion or less red tape, etc.
I don't know does anyone?
you do have to wonder, where are all the tall buildings that require the new fire truck.
Missy
Mutual Assistance, or mutual aid as it's sometimes known, is when one town backfills for another in the event of a major fire. For instance when the shopping plaza in Northboro was burning down, it wasn't handled just by Northboro Fire Dept.. Shrewsbury and other towns came to their "aid" and either helped to directly fight the fire OR put a truck in the Northboro Fire Station on stand-by in the event another call came in. This is routine procedure. I have no idea how the costs are handled -- if the helping town gets reimbursed by the town needing the help, or not. I also have no idea how many times in a given year Shrewsbury either GIVES or RECEIVES mutual aid. I'll bet a call to the Fire Chief could get the answer....or, when the Finance Committee gets a presentation from the Fire Chief in early February -- a great time for the public to ask questions like that.
From what I have heard so far from meetings on TV, comments from the public are not that welcome.
I think one thing the BOS and Finance Committee could look at cutting is the frequency of trash collection. Since recycling seems to be going so well would it be possible to cut trash pick up back to every other week instead of every week? I am probably naive but wouldn't that cut the cost of trash pick up in half.
"you do have to wonder, where are all the tall buildings that require the new fire truck."
The ladder truck is no higher than needed to rescue at the tallest building in town which is the Housing for the Elderly Tower on North Quinsig. Also Ladder trucks are also used for horizontal reach to run house streams over obstructions like roofs. The Hose is run up the ladder and steared remotely from below. This allows firemen to get a stream going out over a roof without having to climb across the roof.
Actually I have emailed the Fire Chief over a week ago for info on fires caused by elec. heaters, fire places, pellet stoves and holidy type fires. So far no response.
I wanted to hellp get the word out to be careful and I also encouraged him to contact the press or have mailer inserts in the bills.
I am quite certain this will be a record year for fires with all the pellet and regular woodstoves and many using their fireplaces instead of using thier oil/gas/electric heaters. And if an intelligent person like Steve Levine suggests electric space heaters then there is a big need for education on the danger of using them. Not to mention there is always an increase in fires around the holidays.
John M.,
I see you recently entered an item under this topic. (about the fire truck)
As a member of the Finance Committe could you please respond to my note just above your's in regards to cutting back trash pick up. Does the idea have any merit?
Thanks,
Rich
At the third Financial Workshop, Dan Morgado noted that negotiations are underway for the next trash hauling contract to begin on 7/1/09. Several options are being looked at, including picking up recycling every week instead of every other week. Maybe one option would be to reverse the cycle and do the trash bi-weekly and the recycling weekly? Only problem is, if you miss a week, you could have nearly a month's worth of stinky stuff in your garage. One of the factors that would influence the cost is how many times the trucks get filled up during the day and have to go back and empty before resuming the route. I suggest contacting the Town Manager directly to suggest options that might make sense, since it's still early in the negotiation process.
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