Selectmen Send 4.1% Budget Request Forward

WESTBROOK - In the proposed town government budget the selectmen adopted in a 2-1 vote last week, town spending would rise by 4.1 percent to $8,341,097 and annual town debt payments by $63,451 or 2.5 percent. The proposal also funds requested additions to some town staff members' hours and several new positions.

"People-town staff, chairs of town board and commissions-were all very much engaged in the entire budget process," said First Selectman Noel Bishop.

The combined budget of town government and debt service payments would rise to $10,921,149 from $10,525,423 in the current year, an overall town budget increase of $395,726 or 3.8 percent.

Had the original requests from town staff and board and commission chairs all been granted, it would have meant a 5.5 percent increase in non-personnel accounts. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) in a memo told these spending units that the non-personnel spending increase target was three percent and asked each unit to suggest 2.75 percent in specific cuts from their budgets.

"This year we used three-year trend line spending reports to guide our decision-making," said Bishop.

The reports allowed the selectmen to identify which town spending units didn't spend their appropriations fully over the past few years or whose spending fluctuated.

Selectman Chris Ehlert had a different view of the budget process that the Board of Selectmen followed to arrive at a final number this year.

"This was the most convoluted and haphazard budget process I've participated in as an elected town official," said Ehlert. "I couldn't support the budget because of the process by which the BOS arrived at the final budget number. It was misleading to town department heads and chairs of boards and commissions."

Ehlert, a Democrat, voted against the proposed town budget. Republicans Bishop and Selectman John Hall III voted to approve it.

"We're still not looking as selectmen at saving money in the budget by exploring shared services with the Board of Education, by bidding out our contracts for oil and electricity, or cutting the $75,000 town contingency account, which I view as a slush fund," said Ehlert. "I believe we could have gotten to a three percent increase without reducing town services."

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Selectmen Send 4.1% Budget Request Forward