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Date: 3/18/2022
LONGMEADOW – Town Manager Lyn Simmons presented the Select Board with the town’s operating budget for fiscal year 2023 (FY23). The budget, at $79.28 million, is 3 percent higher than last year’s revised budget of $77.35 million. The budget was balanced without tapping the town’s reserves or passing the goal of a 1.75 percent tax levy increase.
Among the challenges in crafting this year’s budget, Simmons said, there were eight new full time equivalent positions in the school district and increases of 57 percent in fuel costs, 20 percent in utility rates, 11 percent in trach collection labor, 24 percent in trash disposal fees, 7 percent in health insurance costs, 9 percent in required pension contributions and 21 percent in liability insurance, mostly due to two new town buildings.
Longmeadow’s new growth for FY22 was $255,438, compared to East Longmeadow’s $528,670 and Wilbraham’s $521,378. Easthampton and South Hadley’s figures are about the same as those of Longmeadow.
The town’s free cash, which consists of leftover funding from the previous fiscal year, has a balance of $2.7 million, while its stabilization account – a municipal savings account – contains $5.83 million.
A total of 69.62 percent of the town’s general fund comes from property tax, while 68.35 percent of the budget goes to fund the Longmeadow Public Schools.
Among other notable items in the budget, both community pools are funded for the year, legal expenses are up, Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) contributions are down and there is half a full-time equivalent position added to the Town Clerk’s Office.
Capital Planning
One of the areas of the budget that was discussed by the board was the capital planning budget. Capital Planning Board Chair Stephen Metz told the Select Board that the budget was pared down to $2.01 million after originally expecting more this year. Funding for the fire department’s fire truck replacement fund and an all-terrain vehicle was deferred to next year.
Select Board member Mark Gold commented that waiting to fund the fire truck replacement fund would lead to a larger expense when the time comes to get a new truck. Metz agreed with him that fire truck replacement fund was important but said there were more immediate concerns.
Levine asked how much fire trucks cost and the current balance in the fund. Finance Director Jennifer Leydon told him there was $442,584 in the fund, while Metz told him fire trucks cost “several hundred thousand dollars.”
Money for sidewalk preservation and paving was also reduced by a small amount. Gold noted Chapter 90 funding, which goes to roadwork, may be increased in the state budget and town money allocated to the roads could not be recalled were that to happen.
Select Board Chair Marc Strange asked if Chapter 90 would fill the gap between the $670,000 recommended by Captial Planning and the $725,000 recommended by the town manager. Simmons said the state funding would fill the gap and the town would not have to pave fewer streets due to lack of funding.
Metz said his board and Building Committee Chair MaryBeth Bergeron felt the kitchen renovation at the Longmeadow Police Station was needed and would increase morale.
The money earmarked for replacing the windows at Center School was reduced from $100,000 to $50,000. Simmons said the “bulk” of the school windows will be paid for through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, as will two other items of the list, safety light towers and cardiac equipment. Additionally, part of the window project is covered by community preservation funding.
Still, Gold said, the capital planning money for the windows was “taking $50,000 away from other capital planning things.” He noted there were no vehicle replacements on the list this year. Simmons told him that while the fleet had been reviewed, but considering vehicle delivery delays, it was decided the money could be used for more immediate concerns.
If needed, Simmons acknowledged, the cost of the windows could “be absorbed” by ARPA funding.
Resident Comment
During the resident comment period, Tom Shea urged the board to be “fully transparent” regarding the funding for the window work at Center School and list both the general fund portion of the project as well as how much will be paid for with ARPA. He also asked if grants had been sought to fund the project.
Two other residents, Kenneth Klopfer and Kurt Friedman, addressed the Eversource metering station and pipeline proposed to be built in town. Klopfer spoke against the project, saying it, “flies in the face,” of the state’s 2050 climate goals.
Friedman, despite having spoken against the project in the past, said the ad hoc Pipeline Awareness Group was spreading “grossly misleading information.” He pushed back against the assertion that toxic fumes are being released into homes through gas stoves and said range hoods are a best practice. He described promoting information such as this, “reckless fear tactics.”
Further, he said, the pipelines are necessary for now and in the future will carry hydrogen-gas blends, which will bring people closer to sustainable energy.
Miscellaneous Matters
Longmeadow will receive seven air sensors from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The sensors will be installed at each of the six schools and the Department of Public Works garage to “measure fine particulate pollution,” Simmons explained. The data will be included on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s “Air Now: Fire and Smoke” map. Longmeadow may also add its data to the pioneer Valley Healthy Air network.
The Eastern Hampden Shared Health Services is asking residents to self-report any positive cases of COVID-19 found through home tests so that the Department of Public Health can more accurately understand the scope of infections in the state. People can self-report at http://bit.ly/LongmeadowSelfReporting.
A community Earth Day clean-up event has been scheduled for April 10 at 12 p.m. The rain date is April 24. More information is available at https://longmeadow.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=815.
Strange announced his resignation from the Select Board and cited his new position as the Ludlow town administrator as the reason for his departure.