Some things to think about or keep in mind.
KNOWN FINANCIAL ISSUES
FY17 Budget
·
Over
stated revenues
1. 15-20K new growth
2. Excise tax 60-100K
·
Salary
and wage account over spent
1. 35k Budgeted
2. 55k spent approx.
·
Over
payment on long term debt of 87,500 which needs to come out of FY17 budget
·
Approx. Total
of 165,000 to 185,000 needs to be reduced from Budget passed at ATM
·
2% raise
given to most employees effective in July, even to those who had received large
raises in FY17 budget passed at ATM
·
Chart of
accounts and FY17 budget document both have accounts listed on one but not on
the other which could cause a possible unaccounted finances on the BvA
·
Chart of
accounts does not have account numbers for encumbered items
Sewage issue
·
60-80K of
FY16 Sewage bills were not encumbered and will have to be paid from FY17 budget
which could cause a potential deficit in the FY17 budget passed at ATM in FY17
sewage budget
posted by Jeff Bennett
I hope our Superior Department has a good idea of how to correct this problem. I will be very interested to see how they solve it. The fact remains that some of this debt could have been avoided, with a little common sense and some backbone. People are elected to use good judgment in running the Town. Yes, Town workers are great people but as Selectmen it is your job to be a boss, not their bff. There is a big difference, and selectmen should be mature enough to know the difference. It would be good for the S.B. to remember the people in this Town on Social Security have had zip, 0, for a increase in their checks for the past three years. I should note that because Medicaid has gone up every year, while they got nothing for a increase, they are making less than they did in money left for them to spend. So, I do think it would be a good idea for the S.B. to start using what they have between their years, to stop the bleeding before the town is dead on arrival.
ReplyDeleteIf Ms.Richards and Mr.Columbus think they are going to use what little money we have in free cash, they can forget that right off. Using every cent the Town has to fix their screw ups, has got us in this mess. They can find another way !!
DeleteI had another thought after I replied to this blog. If the thought is to "find money left over from some forgotten project" to fix the shortfall, think again ! We have done that, been there, over and over again for the past ten or twelve years. Why doesn't someone actually fix our problem, for once and for all ? Is that to much to ask ?? Just maybe it is time to just figure out just how much this Town can really afford to spend on our dysfunctional government. Now that would really take some backbone.
DeleteUntil we fix what is wrong, nothing will change. No one will come to bring a business here, and we will have a town of empty houses.
Deletei bet that the selectmen are going to not cut the budget and use stabilization at the STM
ReplyDeleteThere's not enough in stabilization to plug the budget hole! It would take a 2/3 vote at town meeting to use stabilzation money. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI heard that you can go to the mass.gov web site and they have calculators to figure town debt and tax rates. Is this true
ReplyDelete