Salem Budget Plan Has 2.87% Decrease
SALEM, Conn. – Dropping revenues and rising costs are forcing town officials to propose one of the leanest budgets in years while still trying to maintain certain services the public is deeming non-negotiable.
The newest proposal, including a number of changes adopted as a result of a widely attended and occasionally contentious public hearing on April 8, stands at $13.9 million, a 2.87 percent decrease from 2008-09. This includes a 1.18 percent rise in the general government allocation, a 0.65 percent decrease for the Board of Education and a 37 percent reduction in capital spending.
”This is how democracy is supposed to work,” said First Selectman Bob Ross. “The Board of Finance is doing its best to bring services in at the lowest possible rate.”
Ross said Salem is not “issuing as many building permits, conveyance taxes or seeing a lot of people buying new cars or land.” He said the town could have a tax-rate increase of as much as a half-mill.
Most at issue are layoffs, the first proposed in Salem in 25 years, which would eliminate a $12,000 town clerk assistant position, $11,000 worth of summer help positions and a $27,000 full-time public works maintainer.
Townspeople spoke out adamantly at the public hearing against elimination of one of the resident state troopers, arguing that in tough times crime rates tend to go up.
The Board of Finance put the trooper back into the budget and added $5,800 to general-government funds for a custodian to open the school’s gym early for summer recreation programs and $17,000 into the Board of Education budget to restore school recreation programs, including the late bus.
Balancing services against the need to hold down costs is proving particularly difficult on the general-government side, where employee benefit costs are set to rise $35,000 because of health care premium increases, an increase Ross said may push the town toward a new insurance provider next year. For the first time, Salem will also have to pay $30,000 in unemployment expenses this coming year.
Salem general-government salaries as a whole are set to decrease by $22,500, or 2.73 percent, factoring in the proposed layoffs and certain concessions from employees and unions.
Most of the remaining town salaries are proposed to receive 3 percent increases, which town officials have kept in line with similar scheduled increases in unionized salaries. The selectmen elected to forgo their token compensation, totaling just over $11,000, to help offset these costs.
Salem will hold its town meeting May 6 and its referendum May 13.
This article originally appeared on B1 of the New London Day and is available online here: http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=fb8c2acd-2047-462c-9201-079e22147467
