MONTPELIER — City Manager Bill Fraser never said a “hard reset” would be easy when it comes to municipal spending. It certainly wasn’t Wednesday night.
City councilors celebrated their return to City Hall with a wheel-spinning budget discussion.
Mayor Jack McCullough underscored what was painfully obvious more than four hours in to the single-issue session that adjourned an hour before midnight.
“I think that we’re not going to solve this problem tonight,” he said.
McCullough got no argument from Fraser, who noted that based on their conversation, councilors weren’t close to settling on a “preliminary budget” with the first of two scheduled public hearings set for next week.
On a night when consensus was in short supply, everyone found something to dislike about a $17.8 million spending proposal Fraser recommended last month. That included Fraser, who said the proposal is simply the best way to hit the inflation-based target set by the council.
Among other things, Fraser recommended deferring plans to restore a police officer’s position that isn’t in this year’s budget; cut one of two vacant positions in the public works department; and reduce the fire and ambulance department by one member. Assuming an in-house promotion, the looming retirement of Fire Chief Bob Gowans could avert the need for a layoff.
Gowans told councilors he plans to retire in July after 45 years with the department.
Councilors weren’t enthusiastic about any of those cuts, and there was some support for restoring some — if not all — of the positions, which would put just over $300,000 back into the budget.
Without making cuts in other areas councilors were told restoring funding for the three positions would push the projected increase in the municipal tax rate to 6.42% and add roughly $205 to the tax bill for the average Montpelier home.
That doesn’t include Councilor Dona Bate’s suggestion $40,000 in funding for My Ride be restored; Councilor Lauren Hierl’s proposal $25,000 be added to allow committees to leverage opportunities that might surface during the year; or the Cemetery Commission’s request its annual appropriation be boosted by $40,000.
Councilor Sal Alfano noted it also doesn’t take into consideration the tax ramifications of a school budget that was the subject of a separate Wednesday night discussion at Montpelier High School.
Though councilors didn’t know it in real time, the school district’s best estimates suggest it would add $860 to the tax bill for a home assessed at $400,000. The average Montpelier home is assessed at $370,000.
Neither budget has yet been adopted and some councilors were quick to note nearly two-thirds of Montpelier homeowners are eligible for property tax credits based on their incomes, which does provide some measure of relief.
However, others suggested many taxpayers are tapped out and, in the wake of a reappraisal that resulted in a sharp spike in many property tax bills, some fiscal restraint was in order.
Councilor Tim Heney said he believed cuts were in order, suggested some positions might need to be eliminated, but wasn’t convinced Fraser recommended the right ones.
Heney reiterated his belief public works and public safety are the city’s core missions and expressed a willingness to consider cuts to staff in other departments.
“Our role is to provide the services and our job is to determine how we can provide those services,” he said. “It’s not to be a full employment agency.”
McCullough offered a different perspective, noting public works and public safety account for some 70% of municipal employees and, he believed, eliminating positions from other departments would be problematic.
“I don’t feel that we’re overstaffed,” he said. “I don’t feel that … we have a huge and unjustified city government, but we can talk about that.”
The council did with those, who were willing to entertain a higher increase than previously contemplated steering clear of saying how much higher, and those who suggested more cuts might be needed, for the most part, opting not to say where.
Some lamented ever setting the inflation-based target in the first place, and Alfano suggested that, in retrospect, the council should have been more precise. He said requesting a budget that limited the tax rate increase to 3.1%, but excluded cuts from public works and public safety would have been helpful.
“I would like to see that,” he said, noting the list might not be any more palatable than the one Fraser provided, but it would help inform his decision.
It isn’t clear Alfano will get what he asked for because councilors were told the budget is theirs, and those with ideas were invited to share them.
Heney did — questioning everything from staffing in the manager’s office to the potential to eliminate the deputy fire chief’s position as part of a restructuring following Gowans’ retirement. He suggested the council could consider selling the Country Club Road property; evaluate the parking fund; and take a fresh look at the district heat system that has been bleeding money as consequence of a lack of customers.
“If everything’s on the table, we’ve got to talk about this stuff and we haven’t,” Heney said. “What more do I have to do? Do I have to come in with a proposal for you?”
That’s when McCullough suggested it might be best to call it a night and revisit the budget next week. The first of two public hearings on the budget is set for next Wednesday and given the pace of deliberations, councilors agreed to schedule a special meeting on Jan. 17 in hopes of having a preliminary proposal for the second public hearing on Jan. 24.
david.delcore
@timesargus.com
