BOS nixes public hearing

After a marathon Financial Workshop that spanned four nights and more than 11 hours of talking, discussing and debating, but very little action or decisive direction, on December 2 the Selectmen finally reached their 12th and final financial question, as posed by the Town Manager:

"What changes should be made in the budget development process, including what changes should be made relative to the public participation process?"

The Board reviewed a very full calendar of meetings and critical deadlines for the budget process from now until Town Meeting. They noted that their "3 Board Meeting" with the School Committee and the Finance Committee would be held on March 4 -- a full three months from now. This date startled me since a year ago the 3 Boards sat down together in October (2007), well before actual FY09 budgets were under development.

In what will likely be Shrewsbury's toughest budget cycle in decades, wouldn't it make sense for these 3 key groups of elected and appointed officials to sit down NOW and talk about the urgent financial issues facing our town? They MUST share information and build consensus about the priorities and direction for Shrewsbury in FY10.

The Town Manager then pointed out that the Board of Selectmen has a Public Hearing on the FY10 budget scheduled for March 9. This is the public's one and only opportunity to voice their opinions about budget priorities in an open hearing with the Board of Selectmen. In my opinion, this timeframe is much too late for public input and will not permit meaningful adjustments to the budget.

Chairman McCaffrey threw out the idea of adding a Public Hearing earlier in the process; he suggested Monday, January 5, so that the public could provide feedback on the set of fiscal policies recently issued by the Board, including the debt policy, or on any other budget issues. Mr. Tartaglia applauded the suggestion, saying he welcomes public input "the earlier, the better". The other Selectmen voiced concerns about what this early public hearing could possibly accomplish, whether it was the "right time", and worried that it might impede Mr. Morgado's tight timeframe for issuing his first draft of the FY10 budget.

A motion to hold the January 5 public hearing was made and seconded; further discussion ensued. When the vote was taken there were two AYE (Tartaglia & LeBeaux) and two NAY (Miller & DePalo), while the Chairman opted to ABSTAIN from the vote. He stated that "I don't have a dog in this fight." Since the motion did not receive 3 votes it failed.

Are they afraid of hearing from the public about what services are valued more than others?

As Selectman Miller pointed out, "the public has plenty of opportunities to E-mail, write or call members of the Board to express their opinions".

I hope they will.

Hale's Staying Put

Turns out our Assistant Town Manager, Mike Hale, will be staying in Shrewsbury after all.

Mike had been offered the position of Town Administrator in Bolton. A Town Administrator is like a Town Manager, but Bolton's town government is quite different from Shrewsbury's and he would have had a much different job from our Town Manager Dan Morgado.

At the fourth chapter of the Financial Workshop tonight, Mike announced that he was staying in Shrewsbury, where he has worked for about 20 years. It will let him grow professionally. That cryptic information is, alas, all I know.

I would welcome more details and will publish them when I learn them.

Update 3 Dec (9:47am):

I spoke with Mike Hale first thing this morning. He tells me that some of the additional responsibilities he'll be adding will include public works projects. That will include the Grafton Street rebuild, and working on a new relationship with a wastewater consultant. Mike said that the people in Bolton were outstanding. But although "the money was there, his heart is here."

Is Worcester's PILOT Flying Solo?

To the Editor:-

Congrats to the Mass College of Pharmacy for stepping up to the plate in donating $ 50,000 dollars to the Worcester Public Library (Worcester Telegram and Gazette, 11/30/08) as the city's first participant in the PILOT (Payment in Lineu of Taxes) program.

In regards to the Town of Shrewsbury, has any attempts been suggested to ask any non-profits of significant size such as UMASS (Located on South Street) to participate in a similar PILOT program to pay for Services, for example for the Shrewsbury Public Library? Would a PILOT program work in Shrewsbury? What are the value of properties that non-profits operate in and do not pay any taxes?

Robbin Miller

Financial Workshop - Part 3

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.