Chester Town Budget Projections Raise Concern
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While there are many areas that contribute to the small sum, an often-referenced item was a discrepancy over salaries for emergency personnel. The discrepancy stems from a disagreement between the selectmen and budget committee over raises the selectmen gave to full-time fire and police personnel last year. While the selectmen, as the governing body, hold that it is within their jurisdiction to give raises - these particular ones to bring local workers to par with pay provided for the same job in surrounding communities - the budget committee refused to fund them in the current year's budget, as a way to raise their objections to the raises and the manner in which they were given.
To this end, while the raises have been applied throughout the year, the money was not appropriated by voters during the approval of the current budget at last Town Meeting.
These numbers show up both in the police budget, which is expected to be over budget by about $2,000, and the fire department's budget, expected to be over by $15,000, $12,500 of which is salary related, according to Sherwood.
Police overtime is also expected to be overspent by about $28,000. That line is currently overspent by $10,500, but that number doesn't include the recent windstorm response.
Police chief Bill Burke, contacted after the meeting, said he doubts the overtime line will be overspent to that degree. He attributed the current deficit to several issues, including his recent sick leave, and the difficulty in getting part-time officers to cover necessary shifts this year. He expects to offset some of that line's deficit with the part-time officer line, which is only 30 percent expended.
The department was budgeted $4,000 for overtime this year, a significant cut from the initial number the department brought to the budget committee.
The townwide benefits line is expected to be overspent by $9,413. That number includes nearly $20,000 in New Hampshire Retirement shortages, brought on by recent state level changes to that system's funding, which puts more financial burden on municipalities.
Legal services are expected to be overspent by $5,000, and the general assistance welfare line by $9,200.
Savings are projected in the government buildings line of $16,000; the transfer station by about $16,000; recreation by $4300 and smaller savings in the finance department, budget committee, assessing, tax collector and town clerk budgets.
Cannon urged the rest of the board, who said little on the numbers, to make it clear to department heads with expected surplus to manage that number, and for those with deficits to look to close the gap. Cannon added that he was confident in department heads' ability to manage their budgets appropriately.
Sherwood said she would meet with department heads in the coming weeks to look more closely at the reality of the situation. She said numbers and her projections do not tell the whole story of what needs to be spent and where, and it was important to have a ground level view to make more definite estimates.
"I'm just using numbers, and numbers are different than the reality of what department heads have to do," said Sherwood.
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Federal Reimbursement for '08 Ice Storm Fails to Go to Fire Department
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Tapley said his department took time away from their families and jobs not to make money but to assist their community in a time of crisis.
Jerry Lachance, a volunteer with the department and secretary and treasurer of the Sandown Fire Association, had similar comments.
However, when members of the department learned that the town had received $8,471 in reimbursement funds from FEMA for those volunteer hours, they were not happy. Adding to some members' consternation was the fact that the money never made its way to the department or fire association.
"None of these guys took time away from their families or regular jobs to get paid. That wasn't their intention," said Tapley. "When they found out the town got $8,400 on the backs of their blood, sweat and tears, it rubbed people the wrong way."
Tapley added that the whole scenario was suspect, and questioned not whether the money should have gone to his department, but whether it should have been applied for from the federal government in the first place.
Director of public works Artie Genualdo, who worked closely with FEMA officials after the ice storm, was the first to notice that the money hadn't found its way to the fire department. Genualdo raised the issue at an emergency meeting with the selectmen on Feb. 28.
Genualdo said he couldn't believe the money hadn't made it to the fire department. He also questioned whether the town should be making money off its volunteers.
Lachance met with the board of selectmen during the public comment section of its rescheduled March 2 meeting to say that despite the fact that volunteers did not put in for their time, since the money had been applied for and received, it should go to the fire department or fire association for such things as equipment repair.
Lachance said he suspects the board of selectmen was just not paying attention to that reimbursement and it got lost in the shuffle, but he wants the selectmen to fix the problem regardless. He argued that as the money was made on the backs of the department's volunteers, at least some of the money should go to the fire department.
The board of selectmen listened to Lachance's concerns and agreed to look into where the money went and to the possibility of either moving it to the fire department budget or to the fire association, or fixing the problem going forward. Last week, selectmen office manager Lynne Blaisdell was following up with that decision.
Following the meeting, selectman chair Nelson Rheaume said he couldn't say where the money went. He said the board members were rookies in dealing with the aftermath of such a storm, and that contributed to the current issue more than anything.
Tapley said if the selectmen decided to move the money to the fire department, the fire engineers would have to make the decision on using it, but noted that receiving the money wasn't his main concern. He said he didn't expect to put in for overtime hours during the most recent storm either.
Lachance said he would seek reimbursement for his work during the wind storm if it came to that, not to keep for himself, but to make sure those funds were directed to the fire department.
The fire association supports many aspects of the fire department, from purchasing uniforms to fixing equipment. The association's money does not come from general taxation, but from fundraisers and donations.
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Selectmen Oppose Tax Exemption for Telecommunication Poles
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Hampstead has recently made the move to have electric poles and conduits in town assessed so that property taxes can be collected, and with that effort under way, the selectmen said the telecommunications poles should pay their fair share as well. According to information in the Legislative Alert, "The overwhelming majority of utility poles in New Hampshire are co-owned by electric companies and phone companies. The electric companies pay property tax on their share while the phone companies pay nothing."
The board said it had no idea whether Hampstead poles are co-owned, but for those that are, the town is losing an opportunity to collect tax money. The board has made a commitment to go after the property tax on electric utility-owned poles or the electric company share of existing Hampstead poles within the last 12 months, after not collecting that tax for years. The board decided to go on record as supporting the New Hampshire Municipal Association in opposing continued exemptions of property tax for telecommunications poles and conduits.
In other business Monday night:
• Police Chief Joe Beaudoin asked permission to spend money from his Special Detail Revolving Account to pay for the 96 hours of overtime incurred during the recent wind storm. He noted that if the overtime were paid from his budget, any Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement would go into the general fund, not back into his budget, but if it were paid from the Special Detail Fund, it would be returned to that fund. The board voted to approve that expenditure.
• Three bids for the fire department exhaust system were opened and all three fell below the grant money amount awarded to the department for the purchase of the system.
The bids ranged from $34,000 to just over $51,200; the grant amount is $62,500.
• The board asked that the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee explain why the Kent Farm Facility is not open one Saturday a month year round, and to consider possible alternatives.
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