Published on April 30, 2020

The Town Council has postponed adoption of the proposed fiscal 2020-21 budget by two weeks, hoping to reduce expenses while getting a clearer picture of what revenues will look like in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Councilors were poised to set a public hearing on a combined $47 million budget for May 4, but decided instead to wait until their next meeting to set the hearing for May 18. A decision on the town portion of the budget will be made May 27, days before the May 31 deadline set by the town charter.

The school portion of the budget was postponed even further. Public hearing and adoption of the school budget will be June 15, 30 days before the validation referendum, now scheduled for July 14 to coincide with the rescheduled state primary and referendum.

The current draft budget proposes a property tax rate $20.13, up 2.27 percent over this year's. [pro forma summary] But at the April 28 meeting of the Finance Committee, a committee of the whole Town Council, councilors were hesitant to present the draft for public hearing.

"The time that's ahead of us remains tremendously uncertain. And so I think it's all the more important that we continue to scrutinize both of the (town and school) budgets," said Councilor Jamie Garvin, chair of the finance committee.

"To borrow the term from the virus itself, how can we 'flatten the curve' about the economic impact?"

Town Manager Matthew Sturgis said the town has reduced anticipated state revenue sharing by 15 percent, and revenues anticipated from excise taxes by 10 percent. Still, Garvin said he was personally concerned about revenue assumptions in both the town and school budgets. "And ultimately what the impact of this emergency is going to be on the ability to rely on our taxpayers as the primary source of raising those revenues," he said.

Rather than cut programs or services, however, Garvin suggested approaching collective bargaining units to see if contracted increases in salaries and benefits could be deferred. "I think that is the kind of big and bold and creative thinking that we should be looking at for this moment," Garvin said. "I have no idea if it will fly, I think it's worth exploring."

In the mean time, savings realized as a result of coronavirus shutdowns, such as fuel for school buses and stipends for school athletics coaches, will be rolled over as revenue. The School Department also anticipates $26,000 from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, based on the schools' Title I funding, but Town Manager Sturgis said the federal aid may provide more to the town as a whole.

"CARES may close the gap in mulitple ways," said Sturgis. "You may have a lot of answers that develop in the next 20 days."