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Date: 6/5/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Before the West Springfield Town Council meeting on May 20, a public hearing was hosted presenting the fiscal year 2020 budget.
Prior to the budget being presented, Mayor Will Reichelt said, “This was, as all budgets put together, a process we worked with everyone on.”
Sharon Wilcox, chief financial officer and town accountant for the Town of West Springfield, presented the budget during the public hearing.
The fiscal year 2020 budget overview, as presented on a slide at the public hearing, read: “The Mayor’s FY 2020 budget as proposed is a structurally balanced budget, funding recurring operations through the use of recurring revenue sources inclusive of taxation, state aid and local revenues. Free Cash, a non-recurring revenue is used only to fund non-recurring expenditures. The Mayor has proposed utilizing free cash to fund the capital budget and the non-recurring expenditures of the operating budget. Additionally, the Mayor’s budget continues to build our reserves, and proposes appropriations from Free Cash to the Town’s Stabilization (“Rainy Day”) Fund to maintain a balance of at least 10 percent of our total operating budget as well as to the OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) Trust Fund. Again for FY 2020, there are no capital projects proposed for funding with new debt.”
The tax impact as outlined in the budget overview is an overall increase to taxes of .75 percent before new growth. As part of the overview, the budget includes an estimated $850,000 in new tax growth.
As presented on a slide during the public hearing: “The Mayor’s objective in preparing the FY 2020 budget was to provide quality services with a continued focus on adequate funding for our schools and public safety. The Mayor worked closely with department heads to develop creative ideas to enhance operations and better serve the public. This collaborative effort has provided gains in efficiencies through the proper placement of personnel and sharing of resources.
“This includes a large increase in state aid this year that we’ve seen as far as the initial predictions for state aid that still has not been finalized at the state level. In addition to that, we looked at local revenues and tried to increase those where we can, increase fees where we can, and through all of those efforts we have been able to maintain the budget with only a .75 percent increase,” Wilcox shared.
A pie chart presenting the fiscal year 2020 general fund revenue showed that 61.5 percent is from Real Estate/Personal Property Tax, 30.6 percent from State Aid, 6.3 percent from Local Revenue, 0.5 percent from the MGM Surrounding Community Agreement, 0.6 percent from Free Cash/Available Funds and 0.5 from Transfer from Enterprise.
Net Property Taxes are estimated to increase by $1,732,969, a 2.85 percent increase over fiscal year 2019. Net State Aid is estimated to increase by $1,955,970, a 6.69 percent increase. Local revenue is estimated to increase by $99,507, a 1.57 percent increase. The MGM Surrounding Community Agreement is estimated to increase by $100,000, an increase of 26.67 percent. The Transfer from Enterprise Funds is estimated to increase by $15,591, an increase of 3.08 percent. The Free Cash/Available Funds is expected to increase by $98,540, an increase of 19.62 percent.
Wilcox showed a pie chart during the presentation that showed the largest source of local revenue is motor vehicle excise tax, which accounts for 44 percent of local revenue. Meals tax represents the second largest source at 13 percent and third is hotel and motel tax at 11 percent.
As part of the MGM Surrounding Community Agreement, West Springfield will receive its second Annual Mitigation Payment of $375,000. The Surrounding Community Agreement states that West Springfield will receive a minimum annual payment of $375,000 each year through the expiration of MGM’s initial gaming license. For 2020, West Springfield will also receive $100,000 to fund a “look-back study.”
Wilcox explained, “Now that the casino has been open for a year, we’re going to be required to provide data back to MGM to support our initial analysis of what the affect for our community would be as far as traffic, crime and the different variables we had looked at to negotiate that agreement. Part of that negotiation was to provide us funding in order to do that look-back study.”
A significant change will occur in the fiscal year 2020 operating costs in terms of the municipal recurring expenditures. This area will increase by 2.99 percent. The increase includes negotiated salary increases for all unions with settled contracts. Funding is also being provided in the Information and Technology budget for equipment replacement for municipal and school departments, increased hardware and software maintenance costs to support municipal and school department and an additional help desk technician to support police and library technology needs.
As part of operating costs, an investment has been made in public safety. This includes a restructuring of police department staff to include the addition of more trained dispatchers. One sergeant position has also been added to the budget.
Additional funding is also included in the budget to support local elections. To ensure staffing for the presidential primary, an additional administrative assistant is included in the Town Clerk budget.
School Department expenditures are also increased by 4.44 percent to include negotiated salary increases for all unions with settled contracts, funding for recurring positions that were previously funded with school choice funds, funding for programs previously funded by grants that are no longer available and the addition of teaching and support positions.
To review the fiscal year 2020 proposed budget in its entirety, visit www.townofwestspringfield.org/government/departments/finance/accounting-division. To view the public hearing, visit livestream.com/accounts/5714082/westsidelive.