Budget mtg 3/22

First in line to present their budget this evening was the finance department, including the tax collector, tax assessor, IT dept and fees for both the auditors and insurance.

A couple of good things are happening here. First, our new software system should be coming online soon. And since I've worked in the IT Finance area before, I'm acutely aware of the benefits of a solid accounting/management information system. The downside to the new software is not entirely unexpected for me... higher maintenance fees, but also increased manhours for a p/t staff person... requested to go from 25hr/wk to 35hr/wk... and remember, this is not only an increase in wages, it's also an increase in benefit costs. It may be worth it. I'm not sure. See, one of the difficulties in managing our systems was mentioned tonight... but to understand it, you need to travel back a year it time... it was a year ago when we first created the aforementioned 25hr/wk position. And since creating that position, unbeknownst to me, we only now do routine backups of our systems... something that should be done every day or at least every week, I would think. But what we were doing before was ignoring routine backups and just "putting out fires" all the time. And that's not good. Not good at all. Anyway, the one other thing that concerns me with the request is a result of the police budget discussion tonight. What's that? Well, a year ago we hired a technology person for the PD. And as the Chief said tonight, the Town Hall IT staff no longer visit 500 Highland Ave... at least not as often. So I'm just wondering how much do we need to do in "IT?" All'n'all though, my guess is that in the IT field, the town could benefit from more hours... but the question is... what do we need in relation to the cost? I'm not sure yet, but I am hesitant on increasing these hours. And oh yeah... the IT group will also take over the new phone system which will obviously require some man hours.

I think the Building Dept was next. I don't think they had any significant changes.

Then the Police Dept was up. Chief Cruess got asked some tough questions and I think he handled himself well. Within his budget, what jumped out at me was the cost-savings / cost avoidance measures he was providing. In particular, as one contract for equipment ended, he found a new equipment/service provider who would help us save/avoid about $25k over the next three to four years. Besides that though, he was asking for more money... much of it for new cars, three new cruisers and one used detective vehicle. As with all town departments, the goal is not to necessarily extend the life of a vehicle indefinitely, but rather to:

1) replace existing vehicles before a vehicle dies and
2) get vehicles on a rotating schedule (for example, we have 7 fire trucks with an estimated useful life of 25 years, so we try to get a new firetruck every 3.5 years... and this same rule applies to the entire town fleet... in the case of a PD cruiser, the goal is to get new cruisers when an existing cruiser hits the 95,000-105,000 mile range. As well, the police must consider that a lot of time is spent idling. So the cruisers have more wear and tear than a regular car with 100,000 miles.)

Finally came the Fire Dept. I think the Fire Department does a great job. And as Chief Casner pointed out... because of the volunteer nature of the department, they do their job for a much lower cost than other departments. I think the most conversation for the FD centered around the proposed addition of a part-time staff person in the Fire Inspection Office. The idea would be to take a more deliberate approach to inspecting non-single home owner units... that is, spend more time inspecting apartment buildings and "mixed use" buildings, of which there are a few in town... apartments above retail stores... Town & Country Plaza comes to mind.

So that's it. I'm gonna hit the sack.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee