Neffinger submits his proposed budget for FY13

Date: 5/9/2012

May 9, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Gregory Neffinger submitted his first budget for Town Council review on May 1, recommending level service funding for the School Department and an overall reduction in town-wide spending of nearly $1 million compared to fiscal year 2012 (FY12).

"It was a challenging budget," Neffinger said, crediting the "10 years of experience" in municipal budgeting of the town's Chief Financial Officer Sharon Wilcox in helping him achieve a lower total use of funds budget of $88.1 million for fiscal year 2013 (FY13). "We are spending less," he added.

In FY12, West Springfield's total operating budget was listed at $89.1 million.

Despite its lower total figure, Neffinger's recommended FY13 budget does list a handful of significant spending increases, including $49,000 to cover worker's compensation insurance claims, $114,000 for the establishment of a new Department of Planning and Development and $151,000 to create and maintain a municipal car pool operating out of the Mayor's Office.

In addition, the proposed budget includes $40,000 for Assessor's Office work for 2014 property revaluations, $1.7 million to restore past year's School Department cuts and achieve a level service budget and $192,000 to maintain the required municipal pension funding schedule.

The FY13 budget also reflects an overall 15 percent reduction in municipal governmental spending. Included in these proposed savings are a reduction in Police Department funding based on three vacant patrolman's positions and a cut in overtime, a reduction of Fire Department spending to reflect one vacant position and a cut in overtime and reduced overtime and outside contracted service appropriations for the Department of Public Works.

Other spending reductions reflect reduced capital outlays for library exterior improvements, a senior center building feasibility study, proposed improvements at Ohio Field and Memorial Pool and the elimination funding for a currently vacant office assistant position in the Town Clerk's Office.

The savings also include a cut in the FY13 contributions to the town's health insurance trust fund, reflecting multiple years of reduced claims by city employees, as well as reductions in individual town department operating accounts.

Neffinger stressed that, despite reductions in departmental spending, his FY13 budget includes "no layoffs" of municipal employees.

"We are actually adding positions," he said, noting appropriations for an additional person in the Veteran's Department, the creation of a Community Planning and Development Director position, designed to oversee and streamline the procedures in the Planning, Zoning, community Development and Building Inspection departments to make it easier for potential business owners to obtain permits, and the addition of an office assistant for the Mayor's Office.

Despite these changes, Neffinger predicted a reduction in the town's property tax levy of approximately 3.6 percent based on the FY13 budget, provided the Town Council maintains the current tax shift and property values remain stable.

"If property values go up, taxes go up. If the Town Council changes the tax shift, that changes the residential tax rate, " Neffinger said.

As listed in the FY13 budget proposal, available online at www.west-springfield.ma.us/Public_Documents/WSpringfieldMA_Mayor/FY2013ProposedBudget.pdf, the breakdown of estimated revenue to fund expenditures for the proposed FY13 budget includes $56.7 million from real estate and personal property taxes, $24 million in state aid, $5 million in local revenue and $1.6 million from free cash and available funds.

Residents will have two opportunities to weigh in on the FY13 budget during public hearings scheduled for May 21 and June 4 as part of Town Council meetings. Those meetings take place in the Municipal Building Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.