The documents linked in this post are unofficial. Only the Director of Budget and Finance has the official data. These figures have not been certified by the Department of Revenue and are for discussion only.
Link to the budget revenue and expense reconciliation
Link to departmental turn back data.
The first document above shows what revenues and expenses were, either above or below the projections and appropriations for FY09 which ended on June 30th.
Negative numbers are shown in parentheses.
The second document shows the amount remaining in the budget for each line in the first column, the amount of that which is encumbered in the second column(meaning there is a bill out there which has yet to be paid with that money) or the amount of a Town Meeting article appropriating those funds in the third column, and finally the balance remaining in the fourth column.
The total appropriation turn backs are about $3.33 million. As I said last night at the Select Board meeting, this amount represents a great effort on the part of town employees to watch spending. Some is due to positions that were not filled for some or all of the year. Some is due to not buying equipment that is needed but was put off. An $800K chunk is due to town employees opting into a lower cost insurance plan. That insurance appropriation has been reduced for FY10 and won't recur.
Over a half million was returned from the Reserve Fund which is almost unprecedented. Over $400K came from an amount that was set aside last year for capital improvements but appropriated at a Special Town Meeting in case needed after the state did not pay their final installment of Chapter 70 school aid. As it turned out, federal stimulus funds were provided for the difference. (That amount is the $1,018,000 that you see added in then subtracted at the end of the second document)
So we have a bit of money, most of it one time revenue to appropriate at Fall Town Meeting. About $1.1 million is slated to go into the Stabilization Fund. There were over a million dollars in capital projects ...
... not funded at the Spring meeting and they should be funded. I would like to see fees reduced. The transportation account at the schools returned more money than was collected in total for high school student bus fees. I would reduce or eliminate those bus fees. The health clinic at the Council on Aging is nearing completion and a small outlay would get it up and running, I would like to get that done. There are other fees that might be reduced or projects that could be accomplished as well. Here is Phil Lenz's letter at his website with some ideas. Where would you like to see the money applied?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
FY 2009 year end reconciliation
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26 comments:
"I would like to see fees reduced. The transportation account at the schools returned more money than was collected in total for high school student bus fees. I would reduce or eliminate those bus fees. The health clinic at the Council on Aging is nearing completion and a small outlay would get it up and running, I would like to get that done."
great ideas Bill, and in the future the meals tax could be used to fund some of the cut bucks in the town.(ie COA) The town needs to realize that the COA isn't just used as an elderly building,it is also a central part for Emergency Management for the entire town.
I disagree strongly with the idea of using this one-time money for anything except one-time expenses. Using it to pay for full-time kindergarten? Ridiculous!
The idea of using one-time money for an ongoing, recurring expense, full day kindergarten, comes from a School Committee member.
Name names then we can add him/her to the list of people we can anonymously crucify from the safety of our arm chair!
"We need, we need, we need" and quote Kennedy.
How long before the municipal paralegal specialist finds her $70,000 salary in that money as well?? The YA??
Maybe everyone should take a step back, take a long, deep breath, and sit back and analyze EVERYONE'S needs (and I mean EVERYONE.) Then prioritize with EVERYONE in mind.
The scent of money brings 'em all out.
ould like to see the money go towards children's education such as much needed books and technology for all grades.
Hopefully the money won't go towards more clerical help as eluded to by Michaud. Help our children's future with new books and technology.
Let the new EA come up with idea's as to where the money goes that's his job. Wouldn't it be a hoot if this new EA is the type of guy who doesn't appreciate a Fincomm that likes to overreach.
the idea for paying the STARTUP costs for Full day K came from fincomm not the mysterious"school committee member" but why let the truth stop you
Fincom thinks they run the town,especially the chairman Freidman.
Freidman is so conservative he wont be happy until we are a single schoolhouse town. He hates pensions, and is proud of the fact that he opted out of his pension plan for a 401k style plan, but all the money he puts into it is TAXPAYER MONEY.
This is not going to be a popular opinion, but, what would the possibility be of not reducing any fees YET? I know we would all like to see them reduced, and I know the school fees are probably tough for an awful lot of parents.
I suggest because, since we do seem to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, it is just year one. Would there be a possibility of increasing our revenue just that much more if fees could be kept up for at least another year?
It is just a thought. I'm sure the money will not be frittered away as if we had just won the lottery and Dartmouth's money woes will never again plague us. It is just that, however: we have been fortunate to have saved money and maybe more than anticipated. We have to spend it very wisely, so why not continue with fees for another year, hopefully build up the reserve further, and be just that much more ahead next year. Then consider reducing fees when we have just that much more money accumulated.
I sincerely hope all those involved in the spending and allocating of our money will use it to everyone's benefit. I hope our elderly, veterans, and children can benefit from it. I hope some of our potholes can be repaired before we lose our cars. And I hope town employee salaries do not get in the way of the common good, as we have seen in the past.
If the money is there to retain a position, great, but let's not do any magic tricks and pull it out of the hat at the last minute. And let's consider other salaries from the public perspective rather than the personal.
The issue of startup costs for full day kindergarten is because the state reimbursement for enrollment lags by one year. The state formula for Chapter 70 aid is based upon enrollment the previous year. So the first year the town will bear the entire cost of full day kindergarten but that figure would be reduced the next year by the amount of Chapter 70 reimbursement. In any case the Chapter 70 funds will only cover a little over 27% of the total cost, leaving the town to pick up the remainder. (The state has targeted our reimbursement at 17.5% and reduces our aid yearly until we reach that amount) If you budget for 250 children at about $10,000, the total is $2.5 million. Assuming a state reimbursement of 27%, the town's portion drops to 1.825 million. The town already spends about $900K for half day kindergarten so the yearly cost for full day kindergarten to the town will be about a million dollars annually. After that the cost will be $1 million plus increases in net school spending above the growth in Chapter 70 and the amount that our reimbursement percentage goes down. As I noted for the first year,The cost would be about $1.675 million.
Thank goodness for FinCom and people like Peter Freidman who do not think with their emotions but base their recommendations on reason and our financial status. That is what FinCom is supposed to do.
"That is what FinCom is supposed to do."
Yes you are correct, the Fincomm lead by the The Uber Taxpayer Money Follower think they run the town. Not the people, but Fincomm. He doesn't like the rest of us using up his taxpayer money. We all must pay our taxes to ensure that his lifestyle remains intact. God forbid he goes and finds a job in the real private sector that he likes to talk about so much. Teaching at a taxpayer funded school doesn't qualify as private sector... But he thinks it does...so funny..
I wonder what happens to Freidman if we cut alot back off the salaries of the professors at UMD. we have to save money, I mean he wants to cut back on Dartmouth school salaries,why not UMD?
Freidman has a one track mind ,,,,CUT CUT CUT...who cares about the kids and elderly in the town CUT CUT CUT, their were alot of turn backs this year. NOT because of Freidman but because of our Department heads
I would like to point out that the NINE MEMBER Finance Committee makes recommendations to the Town Meeting who VOTE to appropriate the funds.
yes bill, fincom makes "recommendations",but if TM disagrees with fincom, people want to dissolve TM.
I would like to see the Town Meeting form of government changed and it has nothing to do with the Finance Committee. I think our town has grown too large to have a legislative body that meets twice a year. Also I believe that Town Meeting is more easily swayed by appeals to emotion than a smaller and hopefully more informed Town Council would be.
Bill, I'm glad you brought up town council. If Dartmouth were to change it's form of governance, would redistricting of the precints happen? Also would we have 10 council members if the precincts remained the same amount.
Bill,
How about buying our Police Department some Tazers. Why are they in the stone ages when it comes to less than lethal options, when other communities have found the money?
Lets get our police the tools they need to spare lives if it is at all possible. This should be the highest priority of everything I have read so far.
Looks like anon 8:34 pm, 8:23 & 8:25 still has problem with Mr. Friedman. I wonder if it's because Mr. Friedman put him in his place when he was spewing nonsense on Curt's blog. Some people really know how to hold a grudge.
Yes, we have certainly seen the effects of being "swayed by appeals to emotion" and witnessed those attempting to do just that. Our municipal paralegal specialist, for one, has made frequent appearances before the Select Board and Town Meeting (June) to appeal to keep her $70,000 salary by listing the things she does to earn her money. No doubt she is intending to do just that again, in front of Town Meeting members in October.
Does she fear her job is in jeopardy, or just her $70,000? Will the town be able to read a written, for-all-to-see job description before Town Meeting members are asked to vote on her salary, so members can ascertain for themselves if her $70,000 salary is justified?
Hers is a perfect example of emotions ruling before logic within our financial constraints.
"Looks like anon 8:34 pm, 8:23 & 8:25 still has problem with Mr. Friedman. I wonder if it's because Mr. Friedman put him in his place when he was spewing nonsense on Curt's blog. Some people really know how to hold a grudge"
That's a joke!! Peter Friedman is a Tool. Put in place huh? "Hello Chief Pacheco,this is Peter Friedman" The silence following that was priceless!! Peter Friedman cannot and will never ever put anyone in their place for as long as he sucks at the Taxpayer's TEET his arguments will always be WRONG!!! Spew forth your Private Sector junk Peter, meanwhile Taxpayer money pays your salary. I'm sure there are non state schools teaching Volcano stuff somewhere right. Here i found one for you http://www.hpu.edu/index.cfm
It's completely taxpayer money free, now go and be all you can be in the private sector!! Bye Bye Peter...
Oh yeah, also Peter don't forget your yukalaylee!!
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