May 8, 2007
After hours of dicussions about process, budget theories, proposed budget transfers and how to best get an over-ride approved, the Budget proposal from the Bridgewater Board of Selectmen was voted upon and accepted. This omnibus budget was also reconsidered (and failed), thus locking it as a closed article on the Town Meeting Warrant. The Board of Selectmen's Contingeny Budget was also discussed and was voted in the affirmative. Again, a reconsideration motion was made so as to lock this part of the article.
The motion for reconsideration is an interesting parliamentary motion. It essentially locked the budget as voted, even though the Town Meeting is continuing for another day. Had this not been done, tonight's continuation meeting could have re-opened the budget discussion.
While members of the School Committee appreciated the effort and intent of the Advisory Board to provide additional funds to B-R, we could not go along with a plan that would fund edcuation at the expense of Police and Fire, especailly after the work to come to an agreement of funding levels. The School Committee has worked since last fall on the FY2008 budget, and finally (about 10 days prior) had all four town boards (Bridgewater Selectmen, Bridgewater Advisory, Raynham Selectmen, Raynham Finance) in agreement on a plan. The plan was for each Town to approve to Level #2 (so-called) B-R Budget, and a contingency budget in both towns to fund the remaindor to bring each Town to the levels necessary to fund B-R Budget #1.
Further, should a town budget be constructed solely to spread pain and be the catalyst for an over-ride? That was the message I got from the Advisory Board last night. The Town Budget should be the best attempt to fund services with the available funds. It should not be an instrument designed to force an affirmative vote on an Prop 2 1/2 over-ride.
In the end, Bridgewater passed an Operational Budget of $37,835,919; with Enterprise Funds the overall budget is $44,418,752. A "Contingent Appropriation" was also passed to add $2,871,093 to the Operational Budget. General Government to receive $352,527; Public Safety to receive $253,650; Schools (B-R essentially) to receive $1,495,164; Public Works $218,790; Health & Human Services $85,070; Culture and Recreation $50,642; Other ($400k to fully fund insurance) $415,250.
{Click here to download a quick budget group breakdown} Interestingly, some functional budget groups are slated to receive disproportionate (to overall budget) shares of the Contingent Budget: General Government with 4.3% of operations projected with 12.3% of contingency, Public Safety with 16.9% vs. 8.8% of Contingency, Public Works at 2.4% vs. 7.6% of Contingency. However, Education currently at 55.4% of budget to receive 52.1% of Contingency.
I am not aware of an official document from the Town Assessors on the impact of a $2,871,093 over-ride. However, my calculations point to a tax effect of $103.70 per 100k house assessment, or $407.44 to the average (FY2007 single family) $392,919 house assessment.
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
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