Third budget heads to voters

MORRIS >> The Board of Finance approved a third 2016-17 budget proposal Thursday evening, ahead of a planned public hearing and expected referendum.

This latest draft totals $9,079,511.77, according to board Chairman Tracy Martin, and would prompt a tax rate of 27.83 — a 1.9 percent increase over 201516. The amount of $6,462,17 is the town’s share for Regional School District 6, and $2,617,340.77 is budgeted for the town.

The latest proposal is a decrease from the board’s last budget plan, which stood at $9,179,512, resulting in a tax rate of 28.52 — an increase of 2.6 mills. That draft was rejected by voters at referendum in August, by a margin of 194105.

To craft the latest budget plan, Martin said, the board took a series of actions; adding $105,000 in estimated back tax revenue, after making a judgement based on the latest billing by the Town Assessor, and cut a line item for capital non-recurring costs to $100,000.

The board also set the amount to be drawn from the town fund balance to offset the rise in the mill rate to $250,000, according to Martin. In the initial budget proposal, which was rejected by voters in June, $500,000 was to be drawn from this account. In the second proposal, it was set at $250,000.

Board members spent part of the meeting Thursday deciding how to present the budget to residents at a public hearing on Sept. 14, suggesting methods that included a pie chart demonstrating a breakdown of expenses, a demonstration of the impact caused by the loss of approximately $537,000 in Education Cost Sharing funds from the state, and a comparison of the three budget drafts that have been put forward to date.

Martin said that this latest budget draft would provide for the town.

“I think that the Board of Finance feels that this is our best budget for the town, to be able to address the ECS and the lack of state funding, and still be able to move forward (into) a positive, strong, financial future,” said Martin.

A number of town departments — for example, the transfer station, library, and fire department — could be funded for the amount the town lost in state funding from last fiscal year to the current one, Martin said.

To reduce the 1.91 mill increase to zero, Martin said, dramatic cuts to town services would be needed. She said that, according to her calculations, the mill rate could not be leveled due to state law requirements.

“This budget, we feel, is a good place to be moving forward,” said Martin. “We backed off the fund balance — we were able to do that with the increased revenue — and this sets us up to get us on solid fiscal footing moving forward.”

The board planned Thursday to meet again on Sept. 8, ahead of the public hearing on Sept. 14.

The initial 2016-17 municipal budget proposal was rejected by town voters in June by a count of 272 to 70.

At the time, 217 voters indicated that the proposed budget was too high while responding to a second ballot question, while 46 said it was too low.