Budget Sessions Underway as Council Looks to Level Expenses

Budget season is well underway in Merrimack as the Town Council and School Boards meet with leaders to discuss the changes in their spending plans for 2013-14.

It's a lengthy process, Town Councilor Dan Dwyer said Monday night, made easier by a new approach taken when Town Manager Eileen Cabanel took the helm in 2011.

Dwyer said when the Council learned the budget was taking a more than $800,000 hit in unexpected expenditures, they directed the Town Manager and staff to cut back on their asks. It may look like the Council isn't doing much at their hearings, Dwyer said, but it's because so much has already been cut.

“When (Cabanel) presented the budget this year, a lot of that heavy lifting and all that work had already been done.

Dwyer said the budget is still little over $300,000 over being level with last year, meaning if it all stood as it is now, there would be an 11 cent increase over the 2012-13 tax rate, but there is still work to do.

On Monday, the Council held its second budget meeting, with the Public Works Director Rick Seymour and the managers of the various divisions of the department, to discuss allocation of money for Public Works Administration, Highway, Solid Waste Disposal, Equipment Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds and Wastewater Treatment Fund.

This budget season threw Town Manager Eileen Cabanel, Finance Director Paul Micali and the town's department heads a curve ball when they learned they needed to make up more than $800,000 to keep a level-funded budget to 2012-13 thanks to health insurance increases, retirement increases, workers comp increases and property liability increases.

At her budget presentation to the Town Council in December, Cabanel said she and Micali and the department heads rolled up their sleeves to make deep cuts to the budget.

Some of those deep cuts came in the public works department, which cut $100,000 from the paving budget; $50,000 from sand and salt and $60,000 with an equipment operator position that won't be filled following a retirement.

At Monday night's meeting, Seymour said all six divisions would be at zero percent increase or a decrease if you took out health care and retirement expenses.

In discussing the highlights of the Public Works Department expenditures, Seymour said the big cuts in the highway department are significant but manageable. With some light winters of late, Seymour said the $100,000 cut from sand and salt shouldn't be as difficult as it would be if they hadn't been able to stockpile materials with leftover budget money from lighter years, like 2011-12.

“We've been lucky to be able to do that last year hopefully we'll be able to do that again this year if we have some money left,” Seymour said.

The Public Works Department is also looking at some savings in reducing the estimated budget in solid waste as the town's single-stream recycling program continues to gain momentum, Seymour said.

Seymour reduced estimated tons of trash to be disposed of – at a price of $64.50 a ton – with the idea that they will continue to see the upward trend in recycling.

“We're hoping as recycling program continues to gain steam a lot of those tons that used to be trash will move into the recycling arena,” Seymour said.

Other savings will also come in the form of hiring their own part-time cleaning person at the highway garage, instead of using contractor.

Though the Town Council did not hash through the entire budget line by line with Seymour, they fired off questions about expenses and will take the whole thing into consideration during their public hearing on Jan. 21, at which time the Council will have the opportunity to vote to make any further changes to the $28.7 million total town budget.

Between now and then, they will hold similar meetings as they did Monday and last Thursday when they met with Police Chief Mark Doyle and Fire Chief Michael Currier to talk emergency services and communications budgets.

Below is a schedule of the upcoming budget meetings:

• Jan. 14, 6 p.m. – Budget Meeting –Library, Welfare, Town Clerk/Tax Collector, Parks and Recreation, Summer Day Camp
• Jan. 17, 6 p.m. – Budget Meeting - Assessing, Community Development, Media, General Government, Proposed Issuance of Debt, Revenues
• Jan. 21, 6 p.m. – Finalize Recommended Operating Budget and Special Warrant Articles
• *Snow date: Jan. 28, 6 p.m. – Finalize recommended Operating Budget and Special Warrant Articles (if necessary).

A public hearings for the 2013/14 proposed operating budget, the collective bargaining agreements, proposed issuance of debt, petitioned bonds, and other petitioned warrant articles, as well as a review of the default budget, will be Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The town's deliberative session is scheduled for March 13 at 7 p.m.

School budget sessions are also underway with a budget hearing tonight at 7 p.m. in the Merrimack High School cafeteria to discuss the budgets for the elementary schools, the upper elementary and middle schools and the maintenance budget.

Read more about the proposed 2012-13 budget for the Town and get a bigger picture on the town website where the budget is posted. And stay with Patch as we march toward the March deliberative sessions and April Town Meeting.

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