Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
| By Courtney Llewellyn Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW The coming of autumn marks a busy time in Longmeadow: children are headed back to school, leaves need raking, holiday shopping is right around the corner and it is time once again to start discussions of the upcoming fiscal year's budget. The Select Board met with Ray McCarthy of the Audit Committee on Sept. 15 to discuss his submission to the board of proposed best budgeting practices. McCarthy, who works as a finance director for Baystate Health, said the biggest issues when it came to establishing the town's budget was the lack of a consistent format, the lack of collaboration between groups and the sentiment that it was the school department versus the other town departments when it comes to the allotment of funds. "We need to develop a process to define priorities," McCarthy told the board. "The next step is to get out the budget information. As a citizen, I need an explanation of what the numbers mean, not just the numbers." As an example, he mentioned the budget should focus not on the number of firefighters, but the number of calls they respond to everyday. Town Manager Robin Crosbie told McCarthy that there are two versions of the budget now, a fully detailed one for the town boards and a modified one presented to citizens at town meeting. Board member William Scibelli added that all the detailed information was offered to citizens in forums, but that those forums saw very little participation. "One of my frustrations was that to fully understand what was going on, you had to go to every meeting," McCarthy stated. "As citizens, it's our mission to understand the town budget and see how it's being fiscally managed." He suggested more communication between boards and the community at large should take place this budget season. "It shouldn't be a mystery to town citizens about how we do budgets," McCarthy said. The Select Board, the School Committee and the Finance Committee agreed with that assessment. The three groups met last Wednesday to discuss a proposed budget timeline. Paul Santaniello, chair of the Select Board, said the timeline was presented to the group for discussion, adding that "the bottom line is that conversations need to take place as time goes on." The proposed FY10 budget calendar includes quarterly updates of FY09 revenue/expenditure budget projections and deadlines. Non-school departmental budgets are due by Dec. 15; the school budget would be due by Jan. 13. The three groups would meet on Feb. 5 to review the budget submitted by the governor and what its impact would be on the town's proposed budgets. McCarthy was optimistic about the calendar, saying it gave the town "room to think outside the box." The three groups also talked about the FY10 projected deficit, which is currently $1.6 million. "We knew we'd have a surplus from FY08 and 09 [because of the override], and we can bank those monies to offset the FY10 deficit," Mark Barowsky, chair of the Finance Committee, said. He noted the town also currently has about $1.3 million available in free cash. Finance Director Paul Pasterczyk warned that what will really drive the FY10 budget will be collective bargaining. The Select Board, the School Committee and the Finance Committee also conversed about the possibility of establishing a tri-board working group whose sole purpose would be to find consensus on budgetary topics -- no decisions would be made by the group. Many of those in attendance voiced their approval of setting up a group like this, noting the previous success of the Budget Strategies Committee. The three groups plan on meeting again in early October. |