Selectmen, Schools Set the Budget Split 'For Now'

As long as people could recall, when assembling the annual Belmont town budget, the percentage of total revenue dollars sent to the town or schools – crudely known as "the split" – was like a mark chiseled in stone on a pillar in the harbor; come hell or high water, the number was rock solid.

But this year, both sides of town goverment have agreed that the split will now float with the ebbs and flows of the economic tide.

A municipal budget, according to members of the  and who met last Wednesday, Nov. 23, is "a living document" that changes with unexpected needs and unknown circumstances. 

With this new, historic view of the budget, members agreed that’s why they are only assuming for now, as a benchmark, that the allocation for fiscal year 2013 will be approximately 58 percent for schools and 42 percent to the town.

And while the percentages are the same as the previous year, "(i)t's really a jumping off point," said Selectmen Vice Chairman Mark Paolillo.

"There (are) a lot of moving parts so you can't say it's an ending point," he noted. 

While the Warrant Committee – the fiscal watchdog committee that oversees the budget process for the Town Meeting – is hoping those percentages remain firm as they undergo their deliberative review of the budget, for this year, it doesn't appear there will be any such promises from the town or schools.

"They can see whatever they want with the numbers. We, as a group, will decide collectively how we will allocate the funds," Paolillo said.

While this approach could push back the scheduled dates the town and schools could be delivering budget details to the Warrant Committee beginning in January, and "while there is a real concern about timing in our group, (the selectmen and schools) also know we need the figures to do our jobs so I think there will be some accomendation from all sides," said Warrant Committee member Kimberly Becker who attended the meeting. 

The selectmen and the School Committee will be meeting throughout this year’s budget process to keep each other appraised of town and school needs while continuing to work on their respective budgets with rough estimates until the governor releases his and the community has a better idea of how much state aid to expect and the specific revenue available to Belmont.

On Nov. 23, the two governing boards came together in Town Hall for the second in a series of public meetings for the officials to collaborate on the budget in an effort toward a more positive process and effect on the community than in previous years.

With nearly $85 million anticipated at this time to be the amount the community will have to spend in the coming year, the School Committee members and selectmen decided to move forward with the assumption that the so-called split will remain as it has been for about the last five years.

Using rough estimates at this time

But, they agreed, Belmont is in the very early stages of the budget process and the gross, rough numbers they are working with for their respective proposed budgets means the percentages they have set are 'flexible' and may change somewhat as more accurate figures of needs and revenue become available.

The Warrant Committee has asked that the school department and town come up with a proposed split by Nov. 30 and have the first budget drafts completed by Jan. 9.

With that timetable in mind and the main agenda item on Wednesday being the proportions for the schools and town, the boards shared their estimated financial needs during the hour-long meeting as a preliminary step toward coming up with the split.

"There is still a question about the earliness of the first (budget numbers) in early January," said School Committee's Kevin Cunningham.  

"That still seems early to me because the more realistic numbers we have, (the Warrant Committee) can then get an initial budget that will be reasonable and not cause another crisis," said Cunningham.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Ralph Jones put together an estimate for the town the night before and said none of the department heads had seen it until the meeting started. Stressing that the numbers are extremely preliminary, his forecast for general government departments in fiscal 2013 will require an increase of $1,157,354 or 3.85 percent over 2012.

Tony DiCologero, director of Finance and Administration for the school department, presented a preliminary gross estimate for the schools with an increase of $1,926,888 or 4.6 percent over 2012.

Jones said early estimates indicate that the available revenue increase will be $2 million for fiscal year 2013 and the budgets prepared by him and DiCologero, respectively, require a $3 million increase, leaving a shortfall of $1 million. 

Yet he said he feels optimistic and, without any changes in health care numbers for the coming year, that there’s some room to close the gap.

“Let’s continue to work together to see if there are shortfalls in one area or another, and determine if we can come up with something that will meet both the town and school needs,” Jones said.

Interim Town Administrator Richard Kelliher explained the basis for estimates of the revenue Belmont might expect.

“(He and DiCologero) sat down with Brookline’s chief budget officer to get a pair of outside eyes,” he said.

“Tony and I were fairly comfortable with this being in the reasonable ballpark for this point in time.”

Remaining flexible going forward

However, Kelliher pointed out Belmont has no information concerning state aid at this time. He said the sentiments in state groups about that number rising are not encouraging with the primary reason for pessimism being Medicaid costs.

Paolillo confirmed the town has been counseled to expect state aid to remain the same for the coming fiscal year.

“I would expect we’re going to see changes in all of these numbers,” said Jones in reference to the preliminary gross estimated budgets.

“We will be taking a careful look at all the money that was not spent last year (and turned back to the town) to find savings. Free cash number is a big variable.”

Cunningham asked if the split is arbitrary right now, what principles should the schools and town apply to make it less random so that those working on the budget have reasonable guidance going forward.

Kelliher recommended referring to history and comparables from other communities.

“There are some benchmarks but there’s no actual science to it,” he said.

“Over time, the split is the cornerstone on how you put together your budget," he said.

Paolillo said if there’s an understanding between these two bodies that they will exhaustively review all needs for the next budget, there will be less trauma for all officials and the community.

“We have this allocation that changes over time,” said School Committee Chairman Laurie Graham.

“Everyone needs to understand that (numbers can fluctuate) and we need to budget as calmly as possible with these numbers,” she noted.

Right now, schools and town have a jumping off point that they’ll stick to, knowing it’s a work in progress, said Superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston.

“(When Belmont receives the) governor’s proposed budget is when our number stops swinging,” he said.

Any change in split will be a collective decision about what the community needs, Paolillo said.

The selectmen and School Committee will meet again for their third public joint meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to “check in” and see how work has progressed.