Clarksburg Looking at Reductions for Fiscal 2018By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
02:18AM / Thursday, March 09, 2017 | |
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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials are looking at $100,000 in cuts just in the preliminary fiscal 2018 budget but were warned Wednesday at least double that is needed.
"I've drafted where I think I can make some reasonable cuts to the budget," said Town Administrator Carl McKinney. "I've cut $100,000 for next year's budget out of this year's budget, and we're still going to need to cut another $105,000 or find some other revenue stream. ...
"It's going to be a very lean year."
McKinney's draft budget of $4.25 million is down about $111,000 from this year's budgeted $4.37 million, or 2.5 percent. About $40,000 is shaved from the town budget — trainings, supplies, salaries, Town Hall operations and legal services. Another $70,000 is cut from the school budget, which is now proposed at $2.8 million including McCann Technical School.
Revenues are based on the governor's budget, which shows receipts of $2.449 million, up $100,000 and largely Chapter 70 school aid, and charges of $242,699, up $62,000 over this year.
Chapter 70 aid is $1.79 million with another $269,598 for school choice, up $66,000 over this year. School choice goes directly to the school.
On the other hand, the town side is being charged $227,176 for school-choice and charter-school sending, up $53,000 over this year.
McKinney said the town's net minimum spending for all school grades is $2,428,411, according to the state Department of education. Net school spending is $400,000 over that: the elementary is $2.46 million, down about $94,000 over this year, and McCann is $342,000, up $23,000.
"I'm not advocating going to minimum spending because I think our school does a wonderful job," he said. "We don't produce much in this town but we do produce a well-rounded, well-educated student ...
"But I'm looking basically level funding or cutting in every department."
Health insurance that was down 9 percent this year is estimated to rise 9.8 percent next year. Veterans benefits are down and state payment-in-lieu-of-taxes appears stable. The town is about $800,000 below its levy ceiling.
The town's relied on using between $80,000 and $90,000 in free cash to stabilize the tax rate that it needs to rethink, McKinney said.
"We need to get away from that and live within our means," he said.
He planned to meet with department heads, the school superintendent and new member of the Finance Committee James Stakenas, who retired as vice president of administration and finance at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, to see how much more in savings could be teased out.
Town officials are hoping to strike up a conversation with Stamford (Vt.) School about possible shared services and plan on attending an Act 46 information hearing at the school on Thursday night.
Vermont is undergoing a regionalization process through Act 46 to consolidate school districts. The first round of voting had limited success on Tuesday with only three of the 10 proposed mergers being completely successful. Stamford would become part of the Southern Valley Unified Union School District with Halifax and Readsboro.
Clarksburg, however, would like to see Stamford align itself southward, such as through shared services. Both are close in terms of geography and related populations, many Clarksburg children attend the Stamford preschool, and children from both towns attend high schools in North Adams and Williamstown. There are academic and other differences, however, between the two states that might have to be overcome.
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