FinCom recommends $1.2M in new money cuts

Given new budget figures by the Finance Committee last week, Canton school and municipal leaders will have a decision to make regarding cuts to new budget spending.

The FinCom is recommending that the School Committee cut $691,000 from its proposed FY20 operating budget of $44,705,362. For selectmen and municipal department heads, the proposed cut is $500,000.

In either case, the cuts would be to proposed new spending and would not impact current services. The proposed cuts also do not impact any current or future contracts reached or to be negotiated by town employees unions on either the municipal or school side.

Finance Director Jim Murgia said the new budget parameters were determined after analysis by the town’s Revenue Committee and FinCom of new growth and projected state aid.

Murgia said the town will receive approximately $3 million in revenue from new growth. Last year the town had $4 million, which Murgia said was a one-time opportunity caused by an unused tax levy capacity. The extra money went toward the Special Education Stabilization Fund to offset extraordinary costs for out-of-district special education tuition and transportation.

Selectmen Chairman Mark Porter, a former FinCom member and past chairman, said the FinCom faces a tough job every year of “reconciling the revenue projections provided by the Revenue Committee with the desires of the municipal and school side.”

“They apply the standard split formula we’ve used for years to the revenue number and we understand this is the budget we have to operate in,” he said.

Regarding the recommended cuts, Porter said selectmen recognize that they are not cuts to existing services but simply less of an increase than they would have liked. “The town administrator (Charlie Aspinwall) will work with our department heads to prioritize the greatest areas of need to put the increase we are getting to the best use,” he said.

School leaders have remained mum since the FinCom issued its budget recommendations. The School Committee’s next meeting is set for Thursday, February 28.

Committee members and School Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller had discussed the operating budget for several weeks and had agreed on a proposed figure of $44.7 million, which they sent to the FinCom in mid January. The budget included $2.3 million in new spending — a 5.45 percent increase over FY19 — although more than $1 million of that figure was for contractually obligated salary increases. Much of the available new spending in Fischer-Muller’s budget had been earmarked for student services and social-emotional learning supports.

Based on prior year budget discussions, the options available to the School Committee for adhering to the FinCom budget numbers include the following:

* Accept the budget figure of $44 million and make the $691,000 in recommended cuts.

* Negotiate and discuss the budget cuts with FinCom and reach a new compromise.

* Submit a lower budget figure to the FinCom and May town meeting.

* Keep its original budget and make a plea to town meeting voters.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Feb 22 2019. Filed under News, Schools, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.