Fuel costs, aquifer add to town budget

NORTH CANAAN — "Conservative" might be the best way to describe the approach to budget proposals here for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

As in every other town, North Canaan is looking at a spending plan that will swing on soaring prices for vehicle and heating fuel, materials for road maintenance, increased costs of garbage removal, and anything to which a fuel surcharge can be attached.

The selectmen have come in with a proposed 4.168 percent increase for municipal spending, a historically high number for that board. The plan was presented to the Board of Finance Monday night, March 24.

Finance members will deliberate on that and a proposed North Canaan Elementary School increase of 4.9 percent ($195,944) at an April 9 meeting, but it appears there is little or no fat to be cut out of either spending plan.

It is those line items that are least predictable — the ones where weather plays the pivotal role — that are most likely to affect the bottom line. The school can lock in a discounted heating oil price through a consortium, for instance. But the Town Hall storage tank is small, and needs to be filled more frequently than the consortium supplier can manage.

Sand and salt purchases for this past winter are over budget by nearly $30,000, to date. A $5,000 increase will bring it to $40,000 for next year. Prices will surely rise, but a mild winter could offset costs. North Canaan will do as towns typically do, and draw from a contingency fund or move appropriate funds as needed for that line item.

Line items impacting the overall $109,425 increase include more than $53,000 for general government expenses (Town Hall operations and employee salaries and benefits there). Non-elected town employees will get a 3 percent cost-of-living raise. Crossing guards will get an extra $1 per day.

At the town garage, a full-time worker out on long-term paid disability will be replaced by a current part-timer. That will add $32,000 to highway department salaries.

Tipping fees paid to the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority to haul away municipal waste are expected to rise by more than 15 percent, or $15,000. Bulky waste removal is expected to rise from $50,000 to $60,000.

First Selectman Douglas Humes said his board is looking at making changes to the bulky waste removal approach.

"We may be able to save the town a considerable amount of money," Humes said. "We are looking at some changes and what we’re getting for our tax dollars."

Controlling growth and protecting land is becoming a costly endeavor. The Planning and Zoning Commission has requested to more than double its department budget, to $27,900. They have already overspent this year’s budget by almost half. Humes said much of the overage, as well as the proposed increase, will go to devising new aquifer and flood plain protection plans required by the state.

Two major decreases provided some relief.

The resident state trooper program will see a contractual drop of more than $29,000, from the current $97,400. The change is due primarily to the salary for a new trooper with significantly fewer years on the force.

Debt interest payments will drop more than $20,000. The town carries bonds for school and water line extension projects. Most of it is for two school projects. Total interest for next year will be $48,437.

The town currently pays $275,000 on bond principal. That amount is the same each year. One bond issue is due for completion next year, the other in 2011.

The town and school budgets will go to a public hearing Tuesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. A town meeting vote is set for May 20.

The Region One school district budget proposal goes to a public hearing April 2. The referendum is May 6.