{"id":1652,"date":"2020-11-22T21:57:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2020-11-22T21:57:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T02:57:19","slug":"budget-proposal-not-for-the-faint-of-heart-says-norwich-town-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/22\/budget-proposal-not-for-the-faint-of-heart-says-norwich-town-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget proposal “not for the faint of heart” says Norwich Town Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Give Town Manager Herb Durfee credit. His big budget proposal, calling for a 20% increase in spending, won’t sit well with taxpayers struggling during the pandemic. But, it will force the Selectboard to address long-term infrastructure issues and make decisions about them. That Selectboard discussion is long overdue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his email transmitting the budget to the Selectboard Town Manager Durfee said the draft budget is “not for the faint of heart.” Further he emphasized, the budget is “not the ‘Town Manager\u2019s Recommendation’. Rather, it\u2019s the first draft of a living document that is going to have to go through several iterations and much deliberation before you are comfortable offering it for voter approval.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the following from his email highlights the predicament that Mr. Durfee sees facing the Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[It is] time to have serious discussions about Norwich\u2019s fiscal future balanced with the community\u2019s high expectations for the facilities and services the Town provides. In many of [the Department Heads’] minds, they are becoming concerned that they will not be able to continue providing the higher quality levels of service the community expects (and frequently demands) without your support and additional funding considerations for the coming fiscal year and several years beyond. … They well understand that their tasks need to be accomplished in a fiscally constrained environment, but they need the tools now to be able to better identify and focus on the priorities so that the dollars they are granted result in the most value-added facility or service.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Budget Numbers<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The twelve-page proposal draft budget is available on the Town’s website, here<\/a>. That document consists of spreadsheets. However, there is is no narrative highlighting the significant changes to the budget. That is regrettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An excerpt from the summary spreadsheet is above. Total Town spending increases by 20% or nearly $900,000. In comparison, the current budget was an increase of about 4% from the prior year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the summary sheet at the top of this post shows, the big percentage increases were in Finance (58%), General Administration (264%), and Public Works (35%). However, the lions share of increased funding goes to the DPW. Of the $900,000 in increased funding, about $668,000 goes to that department. That is approximately 75% of the increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Property Tax Revenues <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

To finance that 20% increase in spending, property tax revenues will need to increase by 27%. See the chart below. Because the other monetary articles will decrease this year, the overall property tax hike is projected to be around 19%. That does not include school taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Note that two monetary articles last year were one shoot appropriations. Money went to the Brown Schoolhouse Road Bridge ($80,000)and the Regional Energy Coordinator ($30,670). Taxpayers did not expect to see those repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the last five years of property tax revenues, they grew from $3.87 million in fiscal year 2018 to a proposed $5.13 million in FY 2022. That is a total increase of 33% over a five-year period, by my math. I doubt the Norwich Grand List has grown by as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting Dates<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Selectboard needs to finalize the budget by January 13, according to the draft meeting minutes from November 11<\/a>. No substantive discussions occurred in November. However, the meeting minutes say “SB members agreed to meet regarding the budget on 12\/2\/2020, 12\/3\/2020, 12\/9\/2020, 12\/16\/2020, and possibly on 12\/23\/2020.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missing items<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Putting together an annual budget takes a significant amount of effort by the Town Manager and his staff. I appreciate the work done to date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, I note some items that seemed to be missing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n