Between last week and Tuesday night, Whitefield selectmen huddled with the town auditor and found an extra $150,000 in revenues, bringing the total to $600,000. That was the good news, along with a total proposed budget of $774,865, down from an earlier $1 million projection.
The bad news was there is still a $150,000 revenue shortfall this year compared to last. Also, education costs couldn’t be factored in because 2011 budget figures were not available.
During the budget committee’s third number crunching session Feb. 2, chair Bill Brooke calculated, preliminarily, that $483,844 would have to be raised in taxes.
Brian Huntley’s assessment was that, depending on final tallies next week, the panel’s ultimate product could be “challenging, bad or horrific.” He redirected the attention of his co-committee members to the fire department’s claim on 21 percent of the municipal budget, warning that the school budget underwent a similar “slippery slope” expansion in the 1980s. “We’re not being careful enough,” he said, adding, “I’m not saying we don’t need it.”
Selectman Steve McCormick said the fire department budget is $162,440.
North Whitefield Volunteer Fire Chief Tim Pellerin said, “A 10 percent cut would be tough, at 20 percent I don’t think I could run the North Whitefield company.”
Both Randy Brann, chief of the Kings Mills station, and Scott Higgins, chief of Coopers Mills, said fundraising would carry them through. Higgins said his membership could “absorb either 10 or 20 percent. We have a cushion.”
The chiefs judged the $20,000 matching cost to the town for a brand new $200,000 truck worth supporting. The replacement pumper/tanker, available through a $170,000 grant Pellerin said he felt 99 percent sure of being awarded, would be for his North Whitefield fire company, which has gained manpower in recent years. Budget committee member Barry Tibbetts said, “We want to fuel the enthusiasm” of the company for the new truck and that it is a good deal. “Basically you’re buying a $200,000 fire truck for 10 percent of the cost,” he said.
Also discussed was the $15,000 for stipends voted at last year’s annual town meeting.
Some firefighters do not take the stipend, while others appreciate the biannual disbursement. Those responding to emergency incidents are entitled to $10 per call.
Pellerin said his company, many of them young or middle-aged family men, appreciated the extra money, especially the week before Christmas; but other fire officials indicated service and the firemen’s safety trumped the stipend.
Town fire chief Jim Brann suggested the committee cut 10 percent off the $48,000 set aside for the three fire companies ($16,000 each). He also recommended cuts in fire education, communications, turnout gear, hepatitis shots and forest fire budget lines.
Higgins cautioned against eliminating the $500 forest fire account. “If we had a large forest fire in Whitefield and the Forest Service said, ‘you need more help,’ and we had to call in a prison crew, that (line) is where the money would come. There is a cost to the town.”
Funds from revenue sharing, previously included as $50,000, were “substantially over $100,000.” The auditor also approved applying the latter figure to revenues.
Nearly every budget account was trimmed, including the selectmen’s $5000 salary per individual. “We cut $1000 apiece,” said McCormick. Also knocked back were health insurance, election expenses, and $500 from the animal control officer’s pay. Reducing office hours or staff wasn’t an option.
McCormick said the road budget (41 percent of the annual expense sheet) was cut 10 percent and paving 50 percent. Municipal training and excise books fell on the chopping block, “and we cut back town reports, we’re going to put them online,” he said. Town office furniture and equipment requests were halved. Additionally, the firefighter stipends were trimmed to $13,500.
Still to be factored in were fire chief Brann’s suggested cuts, and still in the budget is the initial $40,000 down payment for a central fire station.
The committee meets Mon., Feb. 8, intending to finish its work and vote its recommendations.
