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Town Manager presents early balanced budget

Date: 3/2/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW -- Town Manager Robin Crosbie presented her balanced budget to the Select Board at their Feb. 23 meeting, but budget discussions are far from over.

Longmeadow is looking at a loss of $169,000 in state aid for fiscal year 2010 (FY10) and $200,000 less in local receipts. Revenues are expected to total $47.37 million in the next fiscal year, while expenses are estimated to total $47.89 million. The town will continue to look for ways to cut costs and use free cash so the budget will remain balanced.

Crosbie said the major changes in the FY10 budget include maintenance costs for the new fiber optic system (FIOS) linking the school and municipal buildings, the lack of state and federal elections, the attrition of a .5 full-time equivalent (FTE) assessor clerk position and 1.0 police department patrol position and the school s reduction of 11.65 FTEs (and the addition of 1.0 FTE health teacher).

There are also increased unemployment costs due to layoffs and increased costs for curbside waste collection due to reduced recycling revenue.

The FY10 recommended budget to meet targets is $47,111,551, Crosbie told the Select Board. The requested budget totals $47,378,616.

We re early in the [budget] process, she continued. The numbers from the state could change before Town Meeting. Crosbie added that she is convinced the state is not done reducing local aid in the current fiscal year.

Crosbie s meeting with the Select Board served only as an opportunity to give an overview of where the budget currently sits.

Questions will be answered in the future, Select Board Chair Paul Santaniello said. He noted that the board will be meeting March 2, 9, 16 and 18 to delve deeper into the budget issues.

The meetings on March 2, 9 and 18 will take place at 7 p.m. in the Police Station Community Room. The meeting on March 16 will take place at 6 p.m. in the Police Station Community Room. All meetings are open to the public.