Pool, town jobs on the line

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on May 15, 2009

War Memorial Pool would close and as many as 11 town employees could lose their jobs as Amherst officials look to bring forward a municipal budget proposal for next year that falls at least $1.15 million short of providing the same level of services to the public.

With the Finance Committee holding out for still deeper cuts, Town Manager Larry Shaffer informed the Select Board Monday that he hopes an $18.49 million municipal budget proposal for fiscal 2010 can come before annual Town Meeting June 15, the night that budget discussions will begin.

This latest proposal, $686,022 lower than the $19.18 million draft budget Shaffer released in January, requires what are being called "tier 2" cuts that include the elimination of $41,840 in pool funding.

"I don't see how under any scenario it can remain open," Shaffer said.

The pool has been on the chopping block the past two years, but was spared both times by Town Meeting members.

The "tier 2" cuts outlined by Shaffer total $570,736 and also include the shift of three police officer positions to federal stimulus grant funding over the next three years, the removal of $20,000 for part-time clerical help in the town manager's office, a cut of one staff member at Leisure Services and Supplemental Education for $65,307 in savings, and a cut of one position and reorganization in information technology to save another $64,612.

An additional $115,286 would have to be eliminated to achieve this budget, and it would mean layoffs, though Shaffer is not prepared to identify the two to three positions that would likely be lost.

"The list of cuts includes almost exclusively layoffs," Shaffer said. "That's why you don't see them this evening."

But Shaffer believes the impact on taxpayers will not be dramatic, because 9.69 full-time-equivalent positions are no longer being funded by the town. Most were eliminated through attrition.

He points out that many of the "tier 1" reductions that were in his draft proposal, such as eliminating the positions of director of the dispatch center and aquatics director, and all town support for human service agencies, and "tier 2" cuts, as well, won't be that evident to the public. "We don't want to reduce services to people," Shaffer said.

Finance Committee

Yet the budget Shaffer would like to have Town Meeting consider might be rosy when compared to the one recommended by the Finance Committee, which includes Shaffer's cuts of two or three more jobs.

Finance Committee Chairman Brian Morton said his committee is leaning toward recommending a $17.66 million figure, which reflects no new revenues from the state, no local option taxes and no use of municipal cash reserves to balance it.

Morton said that in good conscience the committee members are unlikely to vote for a budget based on good wishes. "I don't want to give people false hope," Morton said.

Shaffer said that if the budget had to be cut by this additional $837,214, it would mean another eight to nine employees having their jobs cut.

"That's what we believe the floor is," said Shaffer, noting it is almost $2 million short of the $19.65 million budget that would be needed to maintain level services.

Possible use of reserves

Though the Finance Committee may be taking a hard position on the use of reserves, Shaffer said he and Assistant Town Manager John Musante are coalescing around the idea of using $1.5 million in reserves over a multiyear period.

Over the next two weeks, the Finance Committee will take votes and make recommendations to be included in the budget book delivered to Town Meeting.

Meanwhile, members of the Select Board wondered what might happen to the three police officer positions funded by stimulus money if the grant is not received. In that case, Shaffer said these would have to paid for with town money to stay at 48 positions.

"Right now, we're not talking about reducing the Police Department at all," Shaffer said.

Select Board member Gerry Weiss said it seems the brunt of cuts in the municipal budget are being borne by the Fire Department, with a $145,000 combined reduction in overtime between the two tiers.

Maximizing the partnership with the University of Massachusetts police, and state police, needs to be done, Weiss said. "It's not sustainable to not make more use of the resources available," Weiss said.

Shaffer defended the police budget, calling the department a "stellar participant" in budget savings.

"In general, I've been very pleased with the effort the Police Department has made, in this budget and previous budgets," Shaffer said.