1990- 1991-FINANCE COMMITTEE - Laserfiche WebLink

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Finance Committee March 29, 1990 Page 4. Paul Somerville, the Shellfish Warden, stood up to address the Finance Committee's proposal of an Aquatic Administrator and the combination of the Shellfish, Harbormaster and Herring Warden budgets. He premised his statements by stating that this all depended on the article passing, however , he saw some problrm= wits, the distribution of the monies that the committee proposed. Somerville stated that $87,491 would have been a 10% reduction of the 3 budgets and the Finance Committee is recommending $73,966 . Selectman Lawrence expressed a need to really look at these figures. Finance Committee member Polka informed everyone present that it was the intention of the committee to get the departments through the summer months and then reconsider the numbers. The Shellfish Warden confirmed that this money would get the departments through the summer season. The Librarian asked the Finance Committee about the cut to her salary figure. She was concerned that the steps had been removed for the personnel who were entitled. Jim Vaccaro assured her that the steps remained in place, however the 4% cola had been removed and $200 in her expenses had been transferred to Building & Grounds. Ernie Virgilio discussed the DPW budget with the Finance Committee. Ernie asked the committee for a clarification of the cuts to his budget. $13,000 was transferred from the DPW budget to the Building & Grounds Account, $4,181 was removed because it was an unauthorized position, there was a $7,393 adjustment to cola and an error in calculation in the amount of $1,005. Ernie expressed his concern about the title Building & Grounds Account. He stressed that he is still responsible for daily grounds maintenance and this requires money for grass seed, fencing, rock, lime, etc. Carl asked Ernie to give the Finance Committee an estimate of the cost of materials to maintain the grounds and the Finance Committee would take the matter under consideration. The School budget was the next budget addressed. The committee is recommending $39,246 more than the recommendation made by the Executive Secretary. Al Polsi who was in attendance stated that he felt that this increase to the school budget was made at the expense of other departments and has created a problem. lie felt that Finance Committee should have stuck with Kevin's Harrington's recommendation. Chairman Dolan stated that the committee had considered the school budget carefully and had reviewed it line item by line item and that the $5,350,000 recommendation was the result of this. Selectman Lawrence pointed out that the increase of $39,246 recommended by the committee still doesn't give the school what it really needs. Dr. DeMoura noted that the School Committee will meet next week for a decision however the $5,350,000 recommended was inadequate to run the schools and he would be in real trouble with this figure. Lincoln stated that he needs 5.6 million just to survive. Kevin Harrington addressed the meeting to discuss the debt exclusion override. He noted that the town is in need of an injection of money. He is suggesting removing the debt outside 22 from inside the cap. He feels the omnibus should be postponed till the override is presented and voted. A passage of the debt exclusion would free up $330,000 in FY91. Kevin is recommending that $200,000 of this be spent on the school, $50,000 for police cruisers, $40,000 for the fire budget and $34,000 for the DPW. If it does not pass we will still need an additional $200,000 for the school and it will be a significant problem. He expressed the need for voters to know that