Preston finance board OKs town, school budgets

Referendum is June 4, following May 23 forum

Preston — The Board of Finance made final adjustments to the proposed budget last week following a three-hour public hearing and special meeting that went until almost midnight Thursday.

The finance board voted unanimously to restore $50,000 to the proposed school budget, reducing its overall cut from $200,000 to $150,000. And while the board supported Fire Chief Tom Casey's plan to add enough paid firefighters to cover all shifts, members did not support adding a second full-time firefighter with benefits. The board preferred to fill the gaps in emergency response coverage with additional part-time per diem firefighters to avoid the cost of benefits, Board of Finance Chairwoman Melissa Lennon said.

After the changes, the board approved a proposed 2019-20 school budget of $12,111,999, a 2.37 percent increase, $452,195 more than this year's budget. The proposed town government budget, also approved unanimously, totals $3,921,680, a 12.56 percent, $437,680 increase over this year, mainly due to the plan to add more than 10,000 hours of paid per diem firefighters.

The board also voted to take $350,000 from the town's general fund surplus to offset part of the budget increase and set the proposed tax rate at 27.79, 1.76 mill more than the current tax rate of 26.03 mills.

The town meeting to discuss the budget is planned for 7:30 p.m. May 23 at Preston Plains Middle School, with the budget referendum planned for June 4.

The town could see a lower reduction than originally expected in its

main state education grant. The governor’s budget called for cutting Preston’s Education Cost Sharing grant by $143,044, but the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee restored $121,423, leaving the town’s proposed cut to just $21,621.

But Lennon said the proposed budget and tax rate going to the town meeting used the governor’s earlier budget proposal, since the legislature hasn’t yet voted on a full state budget package.

School Superintendent Roy Seitsinger said the finance board’s vote to restore $50,000 from its original cut “likely saved a position, or someone’s job.” He said he hopes to enact spending freezes and make cuts in areas that won’t affect either student programs or staffing, while retaining the plan to hire a part-time school social worker for the first time. Seitsinger said an early retirement incentive recently approved by the Board of Education could generate savings of about $60,000.

Casey, the fire chief, said Monday he still needs to calculate how the finance board’s actions would affect his original plan to hire enough paid firefighter/EMT staff to cover all shifts with at least two on-duty emergency responders. Casey originally planned to hire one full-time firefighter and add $201,000 worth of per diem hours, nearly doubling the fire department budget to $435,087.

The Board of Finance originally cut the proposed fire budget by $32,000, but the changes enacted late Thursday reduced that cut to $30,000, shifting money for the additional paid firefighter’s salary and benefits into more per diem hours.