Proposed budget would mean 10 cent tax increase

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Town Council has proposed a 10 cent increase to residents’ property tax rate to support the town’s 2012 municipal operating budget.

Public hearings held Jan. 11 and 25 at BCTV meeting room went over council-recommended appropriations included in the proposed budget. In the end, councilors whittled down about $200,000 from the proposed budget and cut 6 cents from the proposed tax rate.

The town has proposed a total appropriation of $24,192,169 for 2012, a potential $418,969 increase from the town’s 2011 budget.

The big savings in the council’s budget came from changes to the Fund Balance Reserve, which was established in 2005 to address the town’s long-term financial stability. It is responsible for mitigating the town’s risk, ensuring stable tax rates, maintaining fiscal stability and providing cash flows during non‐tax collection times.

It also is used for financial planning and strong creditworthiness, Crystal Dionne, acting town manager, finance/personnel director and tax collector, said at the Jan. 25 meeting.

For six years, the council has worked to achieve a fund balance of at least 8 percent of the general fund municipal appropriation, plus the amount the town is responsible to pay the school and county in any given year.

The $300,000 fund balance appropriation the council originally had proposed for 2012 was brought to the discussion table during the Jan. 11 public hearing by Bedford Taxpayers Association President Roy Stewart. Stewart questioned why the council continued to feed the fund balance so generously when 2011 numbers showed the town achieved its goal with an 8.6 percent fund balance of about $6.6 million in 2011.

At the Jan. 25 hearing, councilors agreed to chop the $300,000 appropriation to $100,000, saving the town about 6 cents on the municipal tax rate.

The estimated municipal portion of the property tax rate is now estimated at $4.33 per $1,000 assessed valuation.

Only 4 cents of the proposed 10 cent tax increase covers general operating costs for town services, Town Council Chairman Bill Dermody said. The other 6 cents come from state New Hampshire Retirement System increases, as well as interest payments on the 2011 infrastructure bond voters approved last year.

“That 6 cents – there’s nothing we can do about that,” Dermody said during the hearing Jan. 11. “The council, a couple years ago, chose to break that out so you can see what portion of your tax increase just comes down to us, and there’s nothing the town can do. We have two options: Pass it on, and we all collectively accept that, or we minimize or reduce town services in order to cover that budget, and my personal position is I don’t think we should alibiing for the state. They’re trying to keep their budget.”

With the proposed 2012 budget, councilors said 21 percent of taxpayers’ tax dollars will contribute to municipal services, while 74 percent will apply to state education and local schools, and 5 percent will go to the county.

According to a table showing the tax effects of budget increases, a $500,000 change in the budget would cost homeowners with a $400,000 home an additional $59.32 in taxes in 2012.

Proposed general fund departments’ appropriations are:

• Town Council: $21,806 in 2012 versus $23,306 in 2011.

• Town manager: $242,916 in 2012 versus $245,898 in 2011.

• Voter registration: $17,451 in 2012 versus $15,241 in 2011.

• Election: $25,712 in 2012 versus $3,713 in 2011. There are four elections this year in Bedford.

• Town clerk: $97,467 in 2012 versus $97,512 in 2011.

• Information systems: $420,000 in 2012 versus $380,764 in 2011.

• Tax collector: $152,065 in 2012 versus $160,658 in 2011.

• Finance/personnel: $447,970 in 2012 versus $348,924 in 2011.

• Assessing: $203,434 in 2012 versus $200,249 in 2011.

• Legal expense: $120,000; stays the same from 2011.

• Planning Board: $20,395 in 2012 versus $25,933 in 2011.

• Zoning Board: $5,804 in 2012 versus $6,073 in 2011.

• Historic District Commission: $1,994 in 2012 versus $1,991 in 2011.

• Planning: $324,002 in 2012 versus $324,833 in 2011.

• Town Hall: $23,200 in 2012 versus $22,000 in 2011.

• Build maintenance: $254,938 in 2012 versus $257,132 in 2011.

• Public Safety Complex: $142,837 in 2012 versus $133,955 in 2011.

• Cemeteries: $26,330 in 2012 versus $29,480 in 2011.

• Insurance: $2,293,934 in 2012 versus $2,200,575 in 2011.

• N.H. Municipal Association: $17,000; same as 2011.

• Southern N.H. Planning Commission: $14,419 in 2012 versus $14,207 in 2011.

• Fund balance reserve: $100,000 in 2012 versus $300,000 in 2011.

• Unallocated reserve: $50,000 in 2012 versus $48,300 in 2011.

• Police: $3,828,860 in 2012 versus $3,715,896 in 2011.

• Fire: $3,535,618 in 2012 versus $3,698,983 in 2011.

• Public Works: $4,865,714 in 2012 versus $4,788,104 in 2011.

• General assistance: $15,000 in 2012 versus $25,000 in 2011.

• Recreation: $449,054 in 2012 versus $426,143 in 2011.

• Library: $1,008,533 in 2012 versus $426,143 in 2011.

• Town events: $2,200 in 2012 versus $2,000 in 2011.

• Conservation Commission: $258,781 in 2012 versus $244,586 in 2011.

• Debt service: $2,754,080 in 2012 versus $2,746,914 in 2011.

The council’s proposed general fund appropriations will increase to $21,906,014, as compared with the general funds total appropriated for 2011 of $21,606,020.

Council-recommended enterprise funds, including funds for police special detail, recreation day camps, community television, the sewer fund and other special revenue funds, contribute an additional $2,286,155 to the appropriations total for 2012.

The town’s proposed capital reserve funds include $562,000 in proposed deposits and $193,499 in proposed withdrawals for a council-recommended 2012 capital reserve balance estimated at $5,012,136. The town will see the recommended budget at Bedford’s Town Meeting, which will be held at the Bedford High School auditorium on March 7 at 7 p.m.

For more information on the town’s capital improvement plans and proposed budget items, visit www.bedfordnh.org.

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Gill on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).