Wolfeboro budget 2/28/02

Wolfeboro budgetWOLFEBOROVoters commitment to check spending will be put to a test this year when they vote on a budget that if accepted will increase spending by 12 percent but decrease the tax rate from $4.98 to 4.88.lMinor changes were made to the proposed budget this year during Wolfeboros deliberative session back in early February but the question of whether to approve or reject it has brought on some major controversy.Last year was the first time Wolfeboro voters rejected the proposed budget since voting under the Senate Bill 2 Method losing the majority by a mere 24 votes. Selectmen opted not to pursue a special meeting to take up the issue of a revised operating budget, as is allowed by the SB2 method, and the default budget was adopted. Many are predicting that this years election will be just as close. If a default budget were to be adopted for 2002, that means the town budget will have remained the same for 3 consecutive years (with certain adjustments as required by law). So what is the right choice?Well few people would say that a simple default budget is adequate. After all, inflation alone calls for an increase of between 2-3%. In addition, objects in a town like objects in a house will naturally need to be repaired and replaced with use; other things just become outdated. In general, a town needs to grow and advance over time and needs money in order to do so typically more than it needed the year before. The major debate in this years election then, is not so much default vs. proposed, as some might think but rather a question of how much Wolfeboros budget should increase by.Selectman this year have proposed an operating budget of $16.9 million, 9% higher than last years $15,414386 default budget. The additional $1.46 million in spending would fund, among other things, an additional police officer and firefighter, equipment replacement for the public works department, town-wide road improvements, capital improvements for water and sewer divisions, zamboni replacement at the Pop Whalen ice arena and funding for local agencies such as VNA/Hospice and the Wolfeboro Area Childrens center.Many of these projects went unfunded last year with the adoption of the default budget, selectmen said, and they would remain unfunded this year with the adoption of a second default budget.Taxpayers Association President Donald Ross, however, claims that selectmen last year purposely under-funded some of the projects those which were most visible to the community - in order to make people believe the budget was too low. Instead, they put the money into capital reserves and the undesignated fund balance where it sat idle. Ross said this is part of the reason why the town surplus is so large this year?Selectmen are proposing 2 special and 3 individual warrant articles on this years ballot that call for just under $1 million in spending; Specifically, $150,000 will go to funding a new chiller unit for the Pop Whalen Ice Arena; $299,241 for purchasing a replacement tanker/engine for the Fire department; $294,745 for installation of a sanitary sewer on Mill St, Varney Rd and King Street and road improvements to King street; $80,000 for a complete reevaluation of properties and $146,000 for engineering services to close the town landfill known as the stump dump.Combined, the proposed budget and warrant articles represent a 12% increase in spending from last year that, if approved, is predicted to decrease the tax rate by 10 cents - from $4.98 to $4.88.Town manager Paul Skowron and Finance Director Scott Smith, gave several reasons for why lower taxes were possible this year.Smith said that most of the monies needed to fund the warrant articles have already been raised and set aside in capital reserves. Voters this year are essentially giving permission for those funds to be spent on the projects for which they were originally set aside. Specifically, taxpayers have funded for a replacement tanker/engine for the Fire Department (article 9) and closure of the town landfill (article 12).For those warrant articles that have not been funded in the past, by capital reserves, most will paid for by the town surplus. Overestimating expenditures on various projects and underestimating the proceeds from others, has resulted in a greater town surplus this year than anticipated, said Skowron. These revenues came from things like motor vehicle registration, building permits and higher anticipated property values (article 11 calls for a reevaluation of town properties), he continued. As a result, $445,000 from the surplus will be put towards funding the proposed warrant articles and $250,000 will be put towards the balance of money to be raised by taxes.Finally, home purchases are predicted to increase next year, meaning there will be more people to share in the costs of things, said SmithWhen asked if the tax rate would go down more if a default budget were approved as a pose to the proposed budget, Finance director Scott Smith said it was not easy to say. It may go down this year, he said, but will likely increase more in future years since projects that will go unfunded now will worsen.