By far the most controversial move in the recent history of Tiverton budgeting was the Budget Committee’s decision to reduce the budget for rubbish/recycling collection by $500,000 — from $644,697 to $144,697. Effectively, if the Town Council follows the budget, this move kills the long-standing government service of curbside trash pickup in Tiverton.
Led by committee member Louise Durfee (who was not elected to her seat, but was appointed by the Town Council), with the assistance of Town Treasurer Denise Saurette, the committee assumed that the Town Council would implement a system of charging a per-household fee to continue trash pickup. The committee members who voted to eliminate trash pickup were: Louise Durfee, Alex Cote, Deb Janick, Josh Mello, Madeline O’Dell, Laura Epke, and John Souza.
At best, this represents a ploy to invalidate voters’ choice at this year’s financial town referendum (FTR), renaming a tax increase as a fee increase. At worst, it puts the service in a death spiral if enough residents decide not to sign up for trash pickup that the fee must be so high that it doesn’t make financial sense.
Whatever the case — and despite repeated assertions by committee members and their supporters — the move was entirely unnecessary. In fact, after the first of the Budget Committee’s two meetings following the FTR, the members had achieved 84% of the necessary adjustments to their original budget proposal without touching trash pickup.
Just after the FTR results were certified, this site published a document presenting $1.7 million of possible adjustments — not including trash — from which the Budget Committee need only have selected less than half, or $782,895. The summary of those suggests was as follows:
| Justin Katz Budget Adjustment Strategy Summary | |
|---|---|
| Adjusted discretionary expenditures | $1,123,389 |
| 5% savings on immediately negotiable contracts | $152,820 |
| 25% savings on dispersed expenditures | $20,659 |
| Savings from holding line items flat (cumulative) | $288,321 |
| Savings identified in Sousa Budget #3 (cumulative) | $150,278 |
| Total savings before corrections and priorities | $1,735,467 |
| Required reductions based on FTR result | – $782,895 |
| Possible reductions to be restored based on priorities | $952,572 |
Shortly thereafter, Town Administrator Matthew Wojcik presented the Town Council (and Budget Committee) with a list of “budget concepts and considerations,” providing additional possibilities, as follows (note that the table infers totals from the administrator’s narrative explanations):
| Town Administrator BUDGET ADJUSTMENT Concepts SUMMARY | |
|---|---|
| Switch eligible retirees to Medicare | $131,350 |
| Executive staff health insurance savings | $6,363 |
| Health insurance savings in current negotiations | $35,856 |
| Implement opt-out provisions for health insurance | $92,892 |
| Discontinue trash pickup (maximum) | $300,000 |
| Close the Senior Center | $127,121 |
| Lower the police pension payment | $196,000 |
| Reduce revaluation line item | $28,000 |
| Total possible savings | $917,582 |
| Subtract revaluation (necessary legislation failed) | – $28,000 |
| Subtract overlap with Katz proposal | – $152,047 |
| Subtract trash elimination | – $300,000 |
| Total new non-trash reduction options | $437,535 |
When it met on June 9 to begin addressing the voters’ requirement of lower spending and a smaller tax increase, the Budget Committee held votes totaling 84% of the necessary reductions. (Note that the enforcement clerk line adds in benefits savings that were not part of the initial vote).
| Budget Committee ADJUSTMENTs During First Post-FTR Meeting | |
|---|---|
| Senior Center siding project | $13,000 |
| Heating project fire station 1 | $20,000 |
| Grinnell’s Beach cesspool removal project | $5,000 |
| DPW catch basin project | $65,000 |
| Advertising/ordinance reduction | $7,000 |
| Cancel new code enforcement clerk (incl. benefits) | $59,545 |
| Cancel new part-time building inspector | $18,720 |
| Police pension payment reduction | $100,000 |
| Reduce library grant increase | $16,400 |
| Switch eligible retirees to Medicare | $131,350 |
| Reduce abatements | $25,000 |
| Reduce paving | $100,000 |
| Refinance Fort Barton debt | $93,500 |
| Total voted-for savings | $654,515 |
| Subtract abatements (comes from revenue, not expense) | – $25,000 |
| Subtract overlap with Katz proposal | – $281,585 |
| Subtract overlap with Wojcik concepts | – $131,350 |
| Subtract paving reduction | – $100,000 |
| Total new non-trash, non-paving reduction options | $116,580 |
Unfortunately, the committee did not stick to that plan when it met again on June 14. Instead, the committee ignored a list of smaller, widely dispersed reductions from member Nancy Driggs that would have more than covered the remaining difference and went straight after trash pickup. Consequently, in summary:
Despite having $2.3 million worth of suggestions that would not have included the broadly harmful reductions in trash and paving, despite having achieved 84% of the necessary adjustments during its first post-FTR meeting without touching trash pickup, despite lacking the authority to make policy changes (like implementing a new trash fee), despite the fact that voters clearly wanted to see a lower budget, not to exchange new taxes for new fees, the Budget Committee undid many of its prior votes deliberately to harm the greatest number of Tiverton residents, even though trash pickup is currently under contract for another year and even though the administrator’s analysis stated that trash elimination would not save nearly $500,000
One Comment