Coordinator said budget changes can trigger override
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - For the first time in the collective memory of several longtime observers of town politics, the word "override" was used by Town Coordinator Henry Danis.

"It's a very tight budget. There are no major changes and certainly no additions," Danis said. "There is simply no money. No rabbit is going to be pulled out of a hat. Northing is coming down from the heavens to change this. Any substantial changes to this budget will trigger an override. I don't think I can say it any clearer than that."

Danis's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget is $83,775,427, a mere $829,293 - less than 1 percent - more than the FY 2008 budget of $82,946,144.

Town expenses, which increase by 6.1 percent and have a line item price of about $2.5 million, and fixed costs, which increase 6.8 percent and are listed at about $23 million, are the biggest increases on the budget.

The salary and wages line item also showed a signifi- cant increase, 3.8 percent, and the amount listed, about $10.5 million, might not be enough because of the still unresolved contract with the teachers union.

Danis allowed for the school budget, which has not been finalized and approved by the School Committee, to increase by 3-1/2 percent, to slightly more than $36 million.

But even Danis admitted that figure may not even be close to being enough should the union agree to a contract, because both the new contract and the raise that comes with it, as well as the retroactive pay - the teachers have been without a contract for more than a year - would have to be factored into the budget.

"It's an arbitrary figure in that sense," Danis said. "It may or may not be enough, but it was a place to start and it's a number to work with that is what I calculated the town can aff ord to spend on the school budget in these times."

Insurance cost was another line item that rose significantly, the 12 percent increase bringing the total to almost $11 million. Water costs rose more than 8 percent and are slated to cost about $2 million.

The school debt and a dramatic increase in the Worcester County Retirement Board contribution were two fixed costs that helped push the total to more than $30 million, an increase of more than 5 percent from FY 2008.

Danis warned that the town's five-year contract for electricity will expire at the end of the 2008 calendar year and that the increase will be quite significant. He said he is hopeful the new contract can be decided upon by the end of the summer.

The end result was an anticipated excess levy of $60,000.

Selectman George Thompson asked Danis when the last time the town had anticipated such a small excess.

"I can't tell you that," Danis said, "but I can tell you it wasn't very long ago we were sitting in this room looking at budgets that had anticipated excess levies of $3 and $4 million."

The selectmen will review specific department budgets in the next few meetings and are expected to tweak the budget Danis presented them with before it is presented to voters at the Saturday May 17 Town Meeting.