MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Williamstown Chamber     Williams College     Your Government     Land & Housing Debate
Search
Lanesborough Administrator Proposes $10.4M Budget
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
02:56AM / Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Print | Email  

The Board of Selectmen questioned Highway Superintendent William Decelles about the budget. 
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town Administrator Paul Sieloff is proposing a 2.5 percent increase in spending for fiscal 2016.
 
The $10.4 million proposal is $345,609 more than last year, a quarter of which is eyed to fund a 3.3 percent increase in assessments for Mount Greylock Regional High School. The increase of $91,487 is some $65,000 more than Sieloff had originally proposed to give to the school.
 
The budget calls for a $2,714,668 assessment for the school, which is the town's largest budget sector.
 
"We have now have a balanced budget. We are able to present a balanced budget at town meeting. This includes a 2 1/2 increase," Sieloff said. 
 
School administrators and town officials have been far apart on coming to terms with a budget in recent months but the School Committee scaled back its request while the town moved up its amount.
 
School officials on Monday voted a budget that was $42,000 higher than presented at the budget hearings, which means they will be asking for another $15,896 over what the town administrator had budgeted for the town's assessment.
 
Contributing to balancing the budget, Sieloff is suggesting a $160,000 cut from the Elementary School budget. The Lanesborough School Committee is proposing to cut more than that in salaries through the reduction of multiple positions in the special education department. However, elementary school officials said a preliminary budget cutting some $100,000 may have been too close for comfort and was suggesting adding some of that back in. The School Committee will present its proposal later this week.
 
"The controlling factor was that the elementary school is modifying their budget," Sieloff said.
 
That budget is eyed to be $2,422,532, The assessment to McCann Technical School is expected at $213,929, bringing the town's total spending on education up to $6.4 million, not including benefits paid to staff. Sieloff estimates that in total some 70 percent of the town's total spending goes to education, a ratio he feels is too high. Board of Selectman John Goerlach called on school officials to make changes to lower costs, particularly with negotiations with teachers. He said teachers at either school shouldn't be making more than $100,000 a year like some are now.
 
"We've tried to make these cuts but something has to give. We just can't keep giving this money away and sustain it," Goerlach said.
 
The next highest budget sector is for public safety with a Police Department budget proposed at $480,434, which is up by $19,000. Police Chief Mark Bashara said the increases is mostly for contractual obligations. 
 
"We didn't do anything radical. Everything pretty much just takes into account contracts," he said.
 
A total of $500 was cut from the gas and oil line because of decreased prices, $2,500 was cut from a bulletproof vest program that isn't needed in the next year, and $500 was cut from uniforms. Salaries, however, increased by $22,587.
 
The Baker Hill Road District budget, which pays for public safety essentially for the Berkshire Mall and the connector road is level funded at $230,239. The town is not buying another cruiser for the Police Department this year.
 
The Fire Department is eyed for a $1,500 increase. That is made up of a $500 increase for electric rates, $600 for phones and radios, and $1,000 for dues. A total of $500 for heath and infection control was cut from the budget and $100 was cut for mileage expenses. 
 
"The biggest thing is some of our dues went up," Fire Chief Charlie Durfee said. "A big thing was [Eversource's] Western Mass Electric's 29 percent increase ... the electric is the killer."
 
The Fire Department is eyed for a new fire engine this year to replace the 1986 Engine 1 at a cost just short of $500,000. Last year voters approved setting aside $100,000, which was coupled with $50,000 from the Baker Hill Road District. Sieloff is requesting voters approve another $100,000, so the town would only have to bond half of the cost. 
 
Durfee is currently waiting work on a grant program he applied to for the other half of the cost. He said the program typically asks for only a 10 percent match and he is hoping the town's 50 percent increases the chances. 
 
"If we get the AFG grant, we have the potential to get one of the other vehicles [for highway department]," Sieloff said.
 
Chairman John Goerlach called for high school officials to find ways to be more cost effective. 
The Selectmen are already looking at purchasing a new backhoe to replace a 1997 one in the Highway Department. The capital plan schedules that to be purchased for $115,000 in fiscal 2017. The Selectmen are also going to ask town meeting about purchasing a Bobcat with attachments for highway staff to clear sidewalks or approve a law requiring residents to clean the sidewalks in front of their property. 
 
"If that extra money comes in, we should go forward with the backhoe," Goerlach said.
 
The Highway Department's operating budget is eyed for a $63,292 increase, $15,052 of which is for salary increases. Sieloff is also adding $30,000 more to the infrastructure line in an effort to boost paving over time. There is also the creation of a guard rail line item of $10,000. 
 
Meanwhile, the budget for winter roads is eyed for a $42,000 increase as Sieloff hopes to increase that budget over time as well so the town doesn't run a deficit have to pull from free cash. Sieloff has been trying to stop the town from using free cash to offset operations and instead use it for capital projects. The proposed budget is $142.000.
 
"We have to get this budget close to $200,000," Sieloff said. 
 
Highway Superintendent William Decelles told the Selectmen that he had been trying to add a couple thousand dollars every year just to keep up with the costs.
 
The town is getting an additional $100,000 in Chapter 90 funds to repair roads from Gov. Charlie Baker's release of those funds in January and then $30,000 from Baker's emergency repair release. Those are being coupled with $200,000 the town annually gets in Chapter 90 and $50,000 from last year. Decelles said the town is looking to do full-depth repairs to areas of Bailey Road the town has left after three years of paving different sections, Potter Mountain Road and Prospect Street. There is also a section remaining on Old State Road that Goerlach suggested finishing.
 
"I do want to finish Bailey Road. I am ashamed that it has taken three years to do one road," Sieloff said.
 
Sieloff said he is proposing a warrant article calling for $10,000 to work on roads in the Pontoosuc Lake area. The money wouldn't go directly to alleviating issues on the unaccepted streets but would instead go toward helping drainage on nearby town-owned roads, which indirectly would help those side streets.
 
"A small allotment as an article wouldn't have anything committed beyond this year," he said. 
 
The capital budget also calls for $20,000 for repairs to the Town Hall basement and $150,000 more to extend the water line up Ore Bed Road to the landfill. The water line is expected to be bonded while the basement repairs will come from free cash. 
 
The town currently has $709,188 worth of debt payments to make this year from bonds taken out in previous years. Those bonds are for the elementary school, spring property purchase, Town Hall repairs, a loader, an ambulance, the fire chief's car, a highway sander, and a water line expansion.
 
Edtor's Note at 10 a.m., March 24: The sentence on the Mount Greylock budget approval was changed to make it clear that the amount assessed to Lanesborough is more than what the town budgeted.

Lanesborough FY16 Budget Overview

Comments
More Featured Stories
Williamstown.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved