Stockholm Warns 2011 Budget Won't Hold Funding Increases
WINTHROP - Stockholm town officials are warning agencies that receive funding from the municipality they shouldn't expected increases in the 2011 budget.
The town board has working on its 2011 budget with the town's budget officer, Arthur Sweeney, at its monthly town board meetings.
With concerns about sales tax revenues and continued increases in salaries, health insurance and retirement contributions, some town board members said they needed to take a conservative approach during their budget building sessions.
Councilman Edwin Marsh said he felt a 3 percent salary hike for town employees - other than the highway department employees covered by the Teamster's contract - was too high.
"I would like to drop that to 1 percent across the board instead of ones who put in for raises," he noted, citing a procedure they have followed in recent years when they asked employees to notify the town board of their salary demands.
Fellow Councilman Clark Decker said he felt the four town councilmen should not receive any increase in their salaries in 2011, and Town Supervisor Lowell Kelsey later indicated he would also not be seeking an increase in his salary next year. The 1 percent raises would be granted to the town clerk, highway superintendent, court clerk, judge, assessor and code enforcement officer.
Mr. Marsh also sounded a cautionary note for agencies, such as volunteer fire departments and rescue squads that service the town of Stockholm.
"Groups with contracts need to know not to look for increases with things tight over the next year or two," he said.
The town councilman also noted town officials needed to review numbers with Seaway Valley Ambulance to determine how many calls they made in the town of Stockholm after signing a $1,500 contract to provide service when Tri-Town Rescue was unable to respond to a call.
Councilman Kenneth Everheart said some agencies should be given notification that they may be asked to take smaller contracts from the town of Stockholm in the future. He pointed out town officials needed to follow their own advice when they recently told Legislator Charles House the county Legislature shouldn't raise property taxes.
"Another year we may be asking those agencies to cut back," Mr Decker said.
But Mr. Sweeney, speaking several days after the meeting, said the town still remains in strong shape financially. "We're doing OK," he noted.
He said he anticipated allocating $60,000 to $70,000 in fund balance to offset expenses in the general fund and an additional $86,000 in fund balance to reduce the taxes that need to be raised for the highway fund.
Mr. Sweeney said that should still leave the town with $100,000 to $150,000 in its fund balance, a range he said he has been able to keep for the past several years.
"I try to maintain that surplus. I anticipate a little more in fund balance than in years past, but we should be OK. We should still be left with a healthy fund balance," he noted.
The town's budget officer said one of his major concerns during the budget building process has been sales tax revenues for 2011. He said that also remains an uncertainty heading into the final four months of 2010.
"You just don't know the way sales tax has been coming in this year. Will it be up or down. There's a lot more guesswork on the revenue side. It looks a lot better right now after the latest sales tax payment. Right now, I'm within $6,000 of budget. But as I reading the newspaper, I'm wondering what the next quarter is going to bring," he acknowledged.
Mr. Kelsey said the last quarter saw Stockholm's share of sales tax revenue at $125,000, a $10,000 increase over the same quarter in 2009.
The town has budgeted $470,000 in sales tax revenues for 2010 and has received approximately $357,500 in three payments from the county. The sales tax final payment for 2010 is scheduled for Nov. 5.
