Politics & Government

FinCom Presents $73.5 Million FY13 Omnibus Budget

Wayland's Finance Committee presented drafts of both the FY13 operating and capital budgets Monday night.

Wayland’s Finance Committee Monday night presented a draft FY13 omnibus budget of $73.5 million, a 3 percent increase from the FY12 budget.

Expected town expenses exceed expected revenue by an adjusted $3.7 million, but the FinCom presented a balanced budget reached through the use of ambulance receipts, bond premium dollars and $3.2 million from the town’s free cash account.

The budget also requires a 5.6 percent tax increase, but remains within the limitations of Proposition 2 ½.

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The town’s operating budget was planned around FinCom guidelines that provided for step and lane salary increases within the school budget, contractual salary increases for other town employees, and needed adjustments to utilities. All other accounts were to remain flat.

In creating the budget, the FinCom’s strategy included targeting year-end departmental givebacks at no more than 2 percent of the budget and estimating receipt revenue within 10 percent of actuals. Both items were areas of concern at during which residents voted to adjust FY12 receipt estimates by $1 million and use an additional after departmental givebacks from FY11 contributed to an excess amount of free cash.

Find out what's happening in Waylandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

FinCom Chair Cherry Karlson explained that the vast majority, 72 percent, of Wayland’s expenses are wrapped up in salaries, employee and retiree benefits, and debt payments.

“To impact the budget and to impact changes, you have to impact one of those categories,” Karlson said.

During the public comment period resident Kim Cook asked the town to do just that – look critically at compensation for town employees, specifically public safety employees and teachers, going forward.

“I think that the compensation for town and school employees is out of line [with similar towns],” Cook said, encouraging the FinCom to not only keep the tax rate down, but to keep spending down. “That’s where the unsustainability is.”

The statements and questions from residents revolved primarily around lowering Wayland’s tax rate going forward, with resident Molly Upton urging the FinCom to find a way to get Wayland’s tax rate into “the 18s” in order to attract new property buyers.

“I’d really like to urge the FinCom not only to preserve the tax rate, but to lower it,” Upton said.

Wayland resident George Harris posed the question of whether it costs taxpayers more to pursue a level of free cash that earns a Aaa bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service, or would be more cost effective to maintain free cash levels that earn a slightly lower rating.

“We ought to know what a Aaa bond rating is worth because we talk about it all the time,” Harris said, asking for specific numbers. “How much does a Aaa bond rating save me this year?”

FinCom member David Gutschenritter responded that, once the lower level of free cash was achieved, tax bills would increase as the town borrowed money to maintain the level of service expected in town.

“If you try to be mediocre … there’s a chance that you’ll slip the other way,” FinCom member Tom Greenaway cautioned.

Monday’s presentation also addressed an FY12 capital budget of $5.4 million, reduced by the FinCom from the $7.6 million in capital requests it received. 

“All of these groups, we think, are relevant to the fabric of our community,” said Bill Steinberg, FinCom member. “One of our roles is to figure out how we take care of each of those constituencies in a responsible manner.”

The capital budget calls for $1.7 million of free cash to be used for road construction and repairs to roof, the latter of which is budgeted at $1.5 million and is a project the town has applied to have partially reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Association, though that reimbursement has not yet been approved.

The remainder of the capital budget is to be funded through the tax levy ($535,000), borrowing ($1.6 million), water cash capital ($1.1 million), and water revenue ($500,000).

Budget documents are available on the Town of Wayland website.


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