05/04/2009 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 ' _i budget. For the FY 2010 budget, the total transfer of salaries and expenses from the School Committee to the Department of Public Works is exactly $1,900,000. Given this amount and the amount of the overall increase in the departmental budget, the net effect is a $36,718 year over year reduction in the Department of Public Works budget as compared to last year's cost. A j review of Budget Note 6 below relative to the School Department budget shows that the school budget is decreasing more that the $1,900,000 amount being transferred to the DPW budget. The detail of the transfer has been documented and is available should a resident want to review it. Budget Note 3: Transfer Station and Recycling (- $80,613) The 5 year contract with We Care Transportation, Inc. as operator of the transfer station is ending on June 30th. For the past year, the Board of Selectmen has been studying the costs and possible alternatives to the town's present household waste and recycling collections. For example, should the town go to a town-wide curb-side collection of household garbage and recycle items? Since additional time is needed to complete the study, the Board authorized a one year bid to June 30, 2010 to continue the present transfer station and recycling collections operations. We Care Transportation, Inc. submitted a one year bid of$874,813—a reduction of $80,613 from the FY '09 cost. That bid was accepted by the Board of Selectmen. i Budget Notes 4/5: Board of Appeals/Building Inspection As part of the re-structuring of the municipal organization, the staff assistance and expenses of the Zoning Board of Appeals have been merged with the Department of Building Inspection Services. FinCom Comment: Note B In the interest of controlling operating costs, the Finance Committee strongly urges both the Police Chief and the Fire Chief to be very diligent about keeping overtime costs and absenteeism within strict limits. Budget Note 6: Police Department: (+ $232,433) As stated in Note A above as part of the Town Manager's re-organization, the Offices of Harbormaster and the Shellfish Constable were re-aligned under the Police Department, the rationale being that these two functions were enforcement in nature and therefore better placed under the Chief of Police rather than the Town Manager. As a result $178,636 in expenses has been transferred to the Police Department budget to cover the cost of those two activities. . The balance of the increase in the departmental budget, or $49,797, is basically related to contractual salary obligations and operating expense increases. Budget Note 7: Harbormaster/Shellfish Constable/Herring Warden: (- $179,536) Again, as noted above the Offices of Harbormaster and Shellfish Constable, along with their related salary and expense ($178,636) have been transferred to the Police Department, and the salary and expenses ($900) of the state mandated, part-time Herring Warden has been included as a separate line item in the Conservation Commission budget. In both instances expenses related to these functions will be included in subsequent annual budget within the Police j Department and Conservation Commission budgets respectively. 10