Town shortfall creeps to $5M
Published on January 14th, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - With a projected FY05 deficit ballooning nearly $1 million in recent weeks for a total shortfall close to $5 million, town officials warned that even with a partial override, over 50 town employees would lose their jobs.
Addressing a small gathering of citizens and a handful of municipal workers at Monday's public budget hearing, department head after department head lamented that their operating budgets had been hamstrung in recent years, forcing them to cut personnel.
The only department head to specifically mention cuts to administrative positions, Town Administrator David Berry cautioned the audience that the town would operate very differently if the cuts were to be instituted.
"These are major cuts with major implications to the town and the services it provides," said Berry.
However, several citizens and one selectman questioned the distribution and validity of the cuts in question.
Seeing the figures for the first time, Selectman Charlie Smith claimed that he would refuse to endorse an override until he saw more evidence of departments cutting back.
"This is deja vu all over again," commented Smith, referring to similar talks of layoffs in 2004 that were avoided. "Unfortunately it looks like we're going to need an override...but as a selectman, I'm not going to ask for one until we need one."
Building on his assertion that the public meeting mirrored budget talks conducted in 2004, Smith later charged that the information was given to scare citizens.
"The bottom line is I think this information was put out there to give the facts and scare you. But sooner or later, we're going to have to take a step back and pull in the reins," Smith remarked.
Scoffing at the idea that the police and fire departments would lose a combined 23 positions without an override, Stoneham resident Frank Pignone blasted the town officials for cutting core services before eliminating wasteful spending.
"We don't cut police department budgets. We start with firemen and police coming out the door and protecting our communities," shouted Pignone, whose remarks drew a short applause.
"When you're in public office, you dig deep, you take care of people. If you were blue collar middle-class you'd understand that...There's just so much [that could be cut]," he added, detailing a laundry list of positions and budget expenses he thought should go.
After yet another resident stood and asked why cuts were made proportionately to each department, Berry explained that his budget will probably not take the same approach.
"This is not my budget," answered Berry. "Again, this is just an exercise. The budget I make probably won't make cuts across the board."
The Cutbacks
As already explained at previous meetings, town officials see three solutions to FY05's current deficit of $4,984,972.
One solution would totally absorb the shortfall with department cuts; a second solution would address the deficit with a full override; and a third option would result in a partial override for $2 million and institute department cuts for $2 million.
For all three of the solutions, town officials plan on utilizing approximately $500,000 from the town's stabilization or rainy day fund and $200,000 from the overlay reserve.
Both the school and town departments worked off of what a slide presentation termed a "basic assumption" -- that uncontrollable costs such as health insurance and mandated spending increases will result in the majority of cuts taking the form of layoffs.
Police and Fire Departments
According to Stoneham Police Chief Gregory O'Keefe, without an override, his department would lose $571,000, resulting in the elimination of 12 police officers.
Constantly assuring the gathering that he was not resorting to scare tactics, O'Keefe claimed that he will have no choice but to operate the police department on a part-time basis.
"I wouldn't have enough people to put one officer on the street 24 hours a day. I don't believe in scare tactics but look at it this way, if one police officer is on the street and he's on a call, he's not responding to the next call because he has no backup," explained O'Keefe, who added that the police department would shut down unannounced at some times as well.
Saying that the safety officer, the DARE program, and most of the detective bureau would be eliminated as well, O'Keefe argued that while an override would be tough for citizens to shoulder, the town had no other options to pursue.
"I know it's tough on everybody, but as a business decision, I look at this as a no-brainer...These aren't scare tactics, I've been here 30 years and I've never seen the department this bad," O'Keefe remarked.
Even with a partial override of $2 million, the police department would still be in shambles, barely having the staff necessary to have one patrol officer on the streets 24 hours a day.
"Basically we'd still have to cut six officers and that would give me just enough people to put one man on the street...Stoneham would still be a community that I really wouldn't be happy about living in," O'Keefe reported.
According to Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey, the fire department would shave $451,971 from its budget without an override, resulting in the loss of 11 firefighters.
With those losses, the fire department would take one engine company out of service, compromising firefighter safety and increasing response times from 4 minutes to 10-12 minutes, Lamey reported.
"With this cut of 11 people, we will lose one engine company that will be out of service for the entire year...We're anticipating that 25 percent of the time, we'll have a delayed response time," said Lamey.
If a partial override passed, that engine company would still be out of service for half a year, there would still be a delayed response time, and the fire department would lose its mutual aid, according to Lamey.
School Department
After putting on a lengthy presentation arguing that the school system's administrative offices, custodial department, and other support staff can't be cut, Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly reported that without an override, nearly 56 teachers would lose their jobs.
"We hear year after year, if you're going to cut staff, cut administrative, cut support staff. We have very few support personnel who could be eliminated," said Connelly.
"Yes, if you look over the staff, you could find an administrator, you could find a secretary, you might find a custodian [who could be cut], but that's not going to do anything to reduce a $2,150,000 deficit," the superintendent added.
As a result, nearly 27 elementary school teachers, 13 middle school teachers, and 16 high school teachers would be layed-off without an override, said Connelly.
Connelly further warned that the cuts could result in the high school losing its accreditation because of non-compliance with state mandated time on learning requirements.
"The students have to be fully engaged in instructional programs for five total periods or 990 hours per school year. This is not something the state looks at lightly. If we're not in compliance, we jeopardize our Chapter 70 funding," Connelly commented.
For a partial override, 13 elementary school teachers, seven middle school teachers, and eight high school teachers would be cut, still resulting in the middle and high schools being in non-compliance with the time on learning requirements.
"It's certainly an option that's not as bad as the full amount, but it's just as harmful," said Connelly of the partial override impacts.
Library, DPW and Town Hall
Without an override, the Department of Public Works would lose five full-time workers, eliminate curbside recycling and reduce public grounds and cemetery maintenance.
The library would lose 14 part-time positions, close on Sundays and part of Saturdays, and lose its state certification.
Town Hall would lose a total of 16 full-time positions, eliminate some departments completely, and close on some days.
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