Budget debate: 'Yes' to part-time planner

SALISBURY — This past week the Board of Finance met three times, once for their regular quarterly meeting and twice to receive the final budgets from the boards of selectmen and education, and to vote on whether to present them at the public hearing Monday, April 26.

The selectmen’s spending plan as of April 12 calls for a total of $4,913,817 in the 2010-11 fiscal year, up 2.8 percent or $134,317. The amount includes a request from the Planning and Zoning Commission to hire a part-time planner. The previous version of the selectmen’s budget, not including the Planning and Zoning request, was for $4,852,817, an increase of $73,317 or 1.5 percent.

Town employees, including the town clerk, assessor, tax collector, zoning enforcement officer and building inspector, received a 3-percent raise. The selectmen’s salaries ($63,414 for First Selectman Curtis Rand and $8,707 apiece for selectmen Bob Riva and Jim Dresser) remain unchanged from last year.

Health insurance, a major item, was figured at an increase of 11.8 percent, although negotiations between Region One officials and representatives of the Anthem and Aetna insurance carriers continue. Should the renewal amount wind up being lower, as seems possible, the savings will not be reflected in the town budget (nor in the Region One budget).

The insurance total is $433,940, up $46,114.

The resident trooper’s salary is up 8 percent, or $8,843, for a total of $119,300. This salary is determined by the state police.

Much of the town budget is flat, with no increases for road repair supplies, snow and ice removal, or the transfer station.  (The 2009-10 budget had $150,000 for snow and ice removal, of which $84,606.08 was used during a relatively mild winter.)

Nonprofits and service organizations are also getting the same amount from the town as in 2009-10. A partial list: the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association is steady at $101,505; Housatonic Youth Service Bureau, $12,916; Women’s Support Services, $1,500; Housatonic Day Care, $37,000; Geer Adult Day Care, $12,500; the Chore Service, $1,000.

The Scoville Memorial Library receives $164,800.

There is a slight increase in the senior services line of 2.2 percent, reflecting a 3-percent salary increase for the director and site manager. The increase of $633 brings that department’s budget to $30,225.

Housing help

The selectmen made one significant addition, adding a $25,000 line for a housing coordinator.

Dresser, who represents the selectmen on the 16-member Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, said at a budget meeting in March that the final report of that group (now in the final stages of composition) would almost certainly include a recommendation to establish a position of housing coordinator — part-time and not eligible for benefits, he added.

And while reluctant to put the cart before the horse, the selectmen believed it important to make some provision for such a job rather than waiting through another budget cycle.

Planning help

The wild card going into the final week of the budget process was a request from the Planning and Zoning Commission for  $65,000, for a part-time planner to assist the commission and the zoning office with implementing some of the recommendations of consultant Don Poland. His December 2009 report on Salisbury’s land use administration has sparked considerable discussion.

In what is now known generally as “the Poland report,� the consultant offered four options for implementing his recommendations. The third option, which has support from the consultant himself as well as attorneys who work with the town’s land use boards, includes the possibility of hiring a part-time planner, who would assist the commission in part by reviewing applications, attending hearings, and working on an in-house update of the Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

At a March 30 meeting between the selectmen and the commission, First Selectman Curtis Rand and Selectman Jim Dresser expressed concern over the amount requested and asked for more specifics. Rand said, “I’m the one who has to stand up at a town meeting� and justify the expenditure.

The Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the matter at its April 6 meeting, and at a special meeting of the selectmen Monday, April 12, with Planning and Zoning Chairman Cristin Rich and secretary Dan Dwyer in attendance. The selectmen voted unanimously, if somewhat reluctantly, to incorporate the request into their budget.

Dresser said that he was not confident that $65,000 was the correct amount. The expanded proposal from the commission had answered some of his questions but not all, he said, though he conceded that he did not have his own alternative figure to offer.

Selectman Bob Riva said he had seen firsthand (as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals) the frustrations that led to the Poland report, and said the only way to know if the plan to use a part-time planner is effective is after the first year.

Dresser called the situation “awkward,� noting that the planning board is an independently elected entity and not managed by the selectmen.

“The voters will decide if the money has been used correctly,� he said.

Rand said, “We all look at this with some reluctance. We can’t judge what the amount should be because we’re not planners.

“It’s a big increase, but we were asked to do something. I don’t think we want another problem like last year [referring to recent, costly litigation].

“I recommend we approve this. I will stand up and say that at the public hearing.�

The selectmen presented their budget to the Board of Finance Tuesday, April 13.