Hollis spending plans to be heard

Friday, February 5, 2010

By HATTIE BERNSTEIN

Staff Writer

HOLLIS – Officials say they are hoping for good turnouts Tuesday and Wednesday nights next week, when public hearings are scheduled on the town and school budgets for 2010.

The Budget Committee will recommend budgets to be presented to voters in March, with an eye toward holding the line on spending without compromising public services.

“The overall economy is tough, and what we’re endeavoring to do is keep the tax rate under control while still providing good quality services,” said Chris Hyde, chairman of the Budget Committee.

According to Hyde, the proposed operating budgets for the town and school are “flat,” a situation that is beginning to “put some strain on the system.”

Hyde said the situation is tenable, at least for the short-term.

“The budgets are driven by salaries and benefits,” Hyde pointed out, adding that on the school side, a collective bargaining unit is continuing the bargaining process. A contract the town has with the union representing police, fire and communications department expired March 31 and is stalled at an impasse.

Hyde said officials are concerned about the pressure of a state law passed two years ago, The Evergreen Law. It requires towns and school districts to preserve contract provisions, even after a contract has expired, if the two sides are unable to reach a new agreement. In theory, a bargaining unit could continue to receive previously negotiated benefits indefinitely, in a case where it was unable to reach an agreement. The law applies to contracts negotiated in 2008, and would not affect the police, fire and communications department bargaining unit contract, negotiated in 2006.

Hyde said the state law did not anticipate “the huge strain” on the community, given the downward turn of the economy at the end of 2007.

He said that state law requires voters ratify collective bargaining unit agreements.

In addition to the contract for the town’s public safety employees, voters are also being asked to consider spending to make critical repairs to Town Hall, both safety issues.

Hyde said the Budget Committee is recommending a decrease in a proposed spending warrant article that would limit the scope of the repairs to repairing the steeple and roof. The Budget Committee plans to recommend cutting spending from $525,000 to $440,000, and rather than bonding, which involves additional costs, making the article a one-time expense.

The repairs, as recommended by the Budget Committee, would increase taxes by 32 cents for every $1,000 of property valuation, or an annual increase of $96 for a property valued at $300,000.

In addition, the committee plans to recommend the town eliminate a capital reserve fund to control weeds in Flints Pond. A proposed warrant article asked voters to raise and appropriate $106,000 for this fund.

On the school side, voters will be presented with a roughly $800,000 price tag, including about $200,000 already spent using contingency funds set aside last year, to make the necessary fixes to the Hollis Upper Elementary School.

After mold was found in classrooms on the lower level in August, the school district sealed off the area, reconfigured classrooms and had the affected areas cleaned. The district also replaced all the ceiling tiles in the lower level classrooms and contracted to have the air quality tested a number of times.

After receiving a clean bill of health recently, the classrooms were reopened and students and their teachers moved back.

Hyde said the Budget Committee is recommending that the school district “pick up repair work” costs going forward, which means covering about $550,000 in costs in the next budget. That translates into a tax increase, for the repair work, of about 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation, or an annual increase of $150 on a property valued at $300,000.

He said the school district’s contingency budget was sizable last year, the result of budgeting to cover anticipated increases in employees adding spouses and children onto their health plans, which did not materialize.

“We’re in an era of tight financial situations for families, and we understand that,” Hyde said, adding that voter input is crucial given the times. “We want to be hearing from voters as to whether they support spending at the existing level of services or think we should reduce some services temporarily. We want to hear their concerns and input and represent what our voters are feeling and needing. Having that communication is really important at this point.”

The Hollis School District, on the recommendation of the Budget Committee, is proposing a budget for the next fiscal year that represents a decrease of $94,472 in spending over the previous fiscal year.

Mandatory increases, said School Board Chairman Jim McCann, are for teacher health insurance, teacher retirement benefits, electricity and heating oil.

Other increases, not yet calculated, are related to professional and support staff contracts, a maintenance position, and additional books.

In addition, the School Board is asking for about $500,000 to finish the repairs at the upper elementary school related to a mold problem found in August.

Decreases in the school budget are the result of reducing three classrooms, due to declining enrollments, and a hefty contingency fund from money put aside, but not used, for health insurance.

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@cabinet.com.