Town Meeting OKs $50M Budget
The 2012 budget took four months to create, but was approved with little discussion Monday night.
The 2012 fiscal year budget was approved Monday night at Town Meeting. The grand total for the 2012 fiscal year is $50.269 million, more than last year's budget of $48.824 million.
The general government came in with a budget of $11.831 million. The schools will be allotted $24.021 million, a hike from their previous budget of $23.143 million. The remainder of the budget, $14.415 will be used for various things including a regional school assessment, debt service, and employee benefits. Town officials said the budget risks include health insurance, veterans services, and snow and ice.
Selectman Robert Mauceri said town and school leaders worked to save money on employee benefits.
"We level funded the health insurance budget a savings of approximately $500,000 which would require an increase in co-pays etc. Failure of our unions to agree to the change in plan design would result in us having to increase the health benefit budget by $500,000 resulting in a reduction of the General Government budget of $165,000 and the School Budget by $335,000."
Here are some of the departments that the budget pays for:
| Department |
FY 2011 Budget |
FY 2012 Budget |
| Youth Services | $47,277 | $42,499 |
| Community Planning | $161,703 | $161,703 |
| Health | $221,978 | $203,718 |
| Library | $445,175 | $451,375 |
| Fire Department | $2.254 million | $2.268 million |
| Police Department | $2.962 million | $3.159 million |
Selectman Sean Delaney said, "Overall I'm very happy with how the process worked. There wasn't any debate." Delaney was exceptionally pleased that not a single town employee was laid-off, and hopes for the same outcome in the future.
The Town Moderator John Murphy thanked voters for their quick support of the budget, which was approved unanimously.
Bob Mauceri
11:30 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Correction:
This is not correct. - "Savings of 33 percent was applied to employee benefits, which increased the health insurance budget by approximately $500,000 and simultaneously reduced the general government and school budget by $165,000 and $335,000 respectively."
What I said was that we level funded the health insurance budget a savings of approximately $500,000 which would require an increase in co-pays etc. Failure of our unions to agree to the change in plan design would result in us having to increase the health benefit budget by $500,000 resulting in a reduction of the General Givernment budget of $165,000 and the School Budget by $335,000.