Somerville voters will decide on a proposed $426,383 budget at annual open town meeting Saturday, June 21. Town elections will be held the afternoon and evening of Friday, June 20.
The proposed budget was unanimously approved by the Somerville Budget Committee in May, and is up only $23,588.50 from the town’s last 12-month budget approved in 2012.
The current budget was significantly larger due to the town’s 18-month shift to a July-June fiscal year from a calendar fiscal year. The transition period ends this June.
According to First Selectman Susan Greer, the current 18-month budget cannot be directly compared to the proposed 12-month budget because some included costs are only expended during a given time of year.
The one area in the budget where the Somerville Board of Selectmen and the budget committee (of which the selectmen are all members) differ is on the budget for town office operation.
The budget committee is recommending $8,350, which includes a $5,350 payment for the loan on the town office. The selectmen are recommending only $3,000 for town office construction or maintenance costs, since another article on the warrant asks to use $31,320.33 out of the town’s general fund to pay off the remaining loan balance in full.
Paying it off in full this year with money from the town’s fund balance would save an estimated $12,000- $13,000 in interest, according to Greer.
The town office operations budget would be down over $10,000 from 2012 if the selectmen’s recommendation is approved. Greer said the amount is down because projects to pave the parking lot and replace the roof are now complete.
Two budget categories would have significant increases over the amounts approved in 2012.
The town’s personnel budget is proposed at $69,723, up $29,183 from 2012, due to a proposed change in officer hours.
The town clerk, tax collector, and treasurer are currently paid 15 hours per week and the town office is open for only 11 hours, but under the new proposal, the positions would be paid for 20 hours per week and the employees would be available for all those hours, according to Greer.
The change would include new evening hours, and the increase would help reduce wait times for customers, Greer said previously. The rate of pay for those positions has not changed, she said.
Under contract services, a $6,000 increase to $24,020 is due to a proposed increase to the amount of hours the towns’ assessors’ agent, Jim Murphy, would work in the coming year to update the town’s database and visit properties.
Murphy would work an additional two eight-hour Saturdays each month, above the four hours he currently works.
“We’ve got to get our valuation under control,” Greer said at the final budget meeting. “It’s not correct. The state knows it’s not correct.”
The contracted services category also includes funding for legal and notary fees, accounting and auditing costs, tax mapping, and veterans’ gravesites and monuments maintenance.
The administration category is also recommended to increase at $31,920, up from $21,000 in 2012. Greer said the total includes adjustments for election costs, utilities, and communications.
The town roads budget is proposed at $219,420, down almost $3,000 from 2012. The budget includes an anticipated $5,000 increase to snow and ice removal costs when the town’s $80,000 contract is renewed this year.
State revenue sharing will be $20,000 this year, down from around $46,000 last year, according to Greer, but an article on the warrant asks voters to authorize up to $60,000 from the town’s general fund to be used to reduce the tax commitment.
The town’s general fund balance is currently over $500,000, according to Treasurer Gerry Kimball.
Subdivision ordinance
A new subdivision ordinance will be put before the voters on Saturday, though how it differs from the town’s current ordinance is not clear, according to Planning Board Chair Jim Grenier.
“The reportedly previous subdivision ordinance was never located,” Grenier said. “We were assured by the gentleman who wrote it originally, or was on the committee that wrote it; (he) had told us it was available, but no one had been able to come up with it.”
The ordinance outlines the process and requirements of applying to subdivide, enforcement procedures, and general standards for the planning board to consider before approving the division of any parcel into three or more lots or dwellings within a five-year period.
Considerations in the ordinance include flood hazards, impacts on ground water and traffic including street and storm water system design, and guarantees that the subdivider can cover the cost all required improvements.
“What we did was take a basic state outline for subdivisions and presented it to our town lawyer for review. And she did review it along with the selectman, and determined what we should present,” said Grenier.
A copy of the 31-page ordinance is available for viewing at the Town Office and will be available at the polls, according to the warrant.
For information about the town’s annual elections and the proposed change of the tax collector, treasurer, and town clerk positions from elected to appointed, see this article.
Somerville’s annual town meeting will begin with elections from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 20 at the town office on Sand Hill Road and reconvene with the open meeting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 21 in the gym at the former Somerville School at 665 Patricktown Rd.
