Monday's Town Meeting A Chance for Residents to Learn About Budget, Have a Say

The second Annual Town Meeting will be held Monday at 7 p.m. in the Farmington High School auditorium. The meeting is an opportunity for all Farmington residents to get involved in the management of their town, both by voicing their opinion before their neighbors and elected officials and by voting to make changes to the 2011-2012 proposed budget.

The second annual meeting is necessary this year because voters defeated the Town Council-recommended budget at the May 5 referendum. Total participation in the referendum equaled 27 percent of the town’s registered voters. Property owners who are not registered in town are also eligible to vote in the referendum and a few did.

As prescribed in the town charter, once the budget is rejected, the Town Council must decrease the budget and present it to the public at a second town meeting before the new budget goes to referendum. During a special meeting, the Town Council voted Friday to decrease its original budget by $750,000. Of that, $450,000 came from the Board of Education’s operating budget and $40,000 from its capital expenditures. On the town side, $110,000 was cut from the operating budget and $150,000 from the capital.

The new budget results in an increase of 2.34 percent over last year and a 2.98 percent tax increase – down from the original 3.97.

Town Manager Kathy Eagen provided the council with a list of options where the cuts might be made and the council voted to do without a part-time clerk to help with real estate revaluation, membership in the lobbying group COST and the Visitor’s Association, enhancements to dispatcher equipment, a yearly professional conference for non-unionized employees, reduction of an AARP tax program for Senior Center computers, reduction in rides to the Senior Center and changing a full-time clerk position to a half-time position through attrition. The council also voted to reduce the leaf collection overtime from $52,000 to $8,525.

From the capital plan, the council opted to hold off another year on spending $170,000 to replace a 27-year-old dump truck, instead choosing to replace a maintenance truck for $70,000. The council also decided not to purchase a supervisor’s SUV for the police department. At the Town Hall, $20,000 in improvements will be put off.

The Board of Education met Saturday to define where it would slash its budget. Two teacher positions at West Woods Upper Elementary School, a French teacher at Farmington High School and an elementary strings position were ultimately cut. A retirement in the custodial staff allowed the board to reduce personnel without a layoff and the work hours of a receptionist in the Board of Education office will be reduced. The board also voted to reduce professional development costs by $20,000.

Residents may learn about the budget at tonight’s town meeting and may increase, decrease and add appropriations by a two-thirds vote as long as there are at least 300 voters. The budget, as approved at the town meeting, will be voted on at a referendum May 19 at regular polling places between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.