By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – At the Board of Selectmen’s Jan. 14 meeting, Town Manager Kevin Mizikar led the first of two budget workshops, focusing on FY21 revenue sources and municipal expenses. These were categorized by functional area as well as by department. Excluded were Department of Public Works figures which will be covered in the second workshop to be held at a later date.
FY2021 forecasting indicates that revenues are projected to be $147,724,380. Although this is an increase of $3.25 million over FY2020, it is only a 2.25-percent increase, and reflects a decrease in local receipts such as motor vehicle excise taxes and landfill ash revenue.
“Within the context of the available revenue, we will be talking about the departments’ requests during this workshop,” Mizikar said. “The revenue model certainly does not provide for everything that has been requested – we have been challenged a little bit more this year than in previous years with the amount available that we have projected at this point.”
Departments were asked to submit level-funded budgets as a baseline at the beginning of the budgeting process. Service enhancements were included in the numbers Mizikar shared with the board.
Shrewsbury continues to grow as a community. The total assessed value increase in FY2020 was 5.5 percent, totaling $336 million, Mizikar noted.
He then went through several slides containing departmental requested funding which included staffing requests. He did not report a grand total as numbers are still in flux. Staffing requests were minimal across the board.
“As proposed, the FY2021 Capital Improvement Plan would include $1,877,544 worth of improvements and is less than the $2.4 million funded in the current fiscal year,” he said.
The plan includes electronic voter verification poll pads, replacing an officer response vehicle within the fire department, replacing four marked police vehicles, upgrading 36 library computers, and various DPW projects.