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Date: 2/16/2023
WILBRAHAM — The third of what has been three weekly presentations outlining budget proposals for the town went before the Board of Selectmen at the Feb. 13 meeting.
Town Administrator Nick Breault set out more of the specific line items for Wilbraham’s budget which followed a series of meetings with department heads regarding their concerns.
“They understand where we are with budget,” Breault said, “They’ve been asked to revisit their budgets and they’ve come forward with their best efforts.”
Breault says he expects more meetings on specific budget items to come as the board heard the latest numbers that still are expected to modify before they reach a final approval.
Citing a change in the levy limit from the Feb. 7 meeting presentation, Breault highlighted a $742,000 difference, an overage in the budget request being the current amount he expected to be discussed with the finance committee.
That amount, Breault told the board, includes 6.2 percent for the school district. Some funding, he said, could be taken out of both the salary pool and monies leftover from the sewer betterment figure, reducing the levy limit offset before making other changes.
What Breault proposed to the board were budget numbers that were $200,000 under the levy limit.
It was at the Jan. 30 meeting that the board heard from several department heads with their proposals for inclusion in the final budget. Those speaking in front of the board sought staffing increases or adjustments to complement the current worker allotment.
With the forthcoming Senior Center project, the facilities maintenance department requested consideration for three custodial positions in the forthcoming budget.
Library Director Karen Ball suggested elevating some part-time workers to cover additional duties, increasing hours without the need to add more full-time staff.
Director of Parks and Recreation Director Bryan Litz, detailing the seasonal workload and assignments his department covers, recommended the expansion of the seven-month seasonal worker position to a full-time post, while maintaining the second part-time at the five-month status. In addition to funding for equipment and hardware, Information Technology (IT) Director Nathan DeLong initiated a request to increase staffing in the town’s Information Technology Department, specially seeking a cybersecurity-information analyst along with coordinators for website and social media as well as regional dispatch technology.
Currently, many responsibilities are addressed by a hybrid role, DeLong said. “We’re not meeting the expectations that the community has of us.”
Addressing the requests from the department heads at the Feb. 13 meeting and after follow-up discussions with them, Breault recommended to the board that funding be included for the library page conversion to borrower services duties as well as addressing other workflow issues.
Also endorsed were the inclusion of the additional IT position for the regional dispatch system as well as the conversion of one Parks and Recreation position to a full-time staff role.
Two custodial positions for the Senior Center were recommended for the present time.
“My position would be to give Nick a green light with this,” Board member Susan Bunnell said. “It’s clearly going to be a year where the Select Board and the finance committee are going to be engaged …”
The board followed suit and approved the latest budget proposals with further discussions and revisions expected.