The second of two budget forums sponsored by the Board or Selectmen on Thursday, May 20 at the Beech Street Center focused less on the schools and more on other town departments.

Approximately 70 people came to discuss the projected fiscal 2011 budgets and a Proposition 2 1/2 override on June 14, asking about expenses for the police, public works and library program to a greater extent than a week ago when the majority of questions and comments were about the school budget.

Frank Paulsen, who lives in Precinct 1, said hearing school officials' opinion that more revenue is needed to serve all students' needs was extremely helpful, but it would also be good to hear from other, smaller departments and their needs.

Belmont Public Library Director Maureen Conners said her department is receiving $14,000 from the coming fiscal year budget. At this point, she said, that is just barely sufficient funding to remain part of the Minuteman Library Network at a time when circulation at the library has more than doubled.

"We are concerned with losing state certification," she said, explaining the certification allows the library to remain part of the network, apply for grants and receive state aid. Without the certification, the library would not be able to do those things.

The Council on Aging is also surviving on a "bare bones" budget, said Ethel Hamann. "We've increased our numbers dramatically and now serving 24 percent of the population," she said. Those who use services provided by the Council on Aging include younger residents each year.

The Department of Public Works has to respond to emergencies, said Director Peter Castanino. "And when you have less staff, other areas such as cleaning streets and repairing sidewalks do not get done as often," he said.

The Highway Department now has 36 percent less staff than it did in 1999, which is putting a strain on the services, the department can provide to residents.

The Fire Department has also cut its staff by 30 percent but calls are up by 62 percent, said Assistant Fire Chief Angus Davison. The majority of calls are for ambulance services, an aspect of public safety the department took over in 1981.

The Police Department wants to add two patrol officers to the department, one dedicated to traffic enforcement and the other as a full-time School Resource Officer at Belmont High School where the position is now only part-time.

It is for those reasons – and many others – that town officials are hoping residents will vote to support the $2 million override of June 14 which will give $1 million to the schools, $600,000 to the capital budget and $400,000 to general government. If passed, taxes for an average home accessed at $700,500 will increase $765 that is an additional 8.4 percent.

 "At this point, a number of residents have grave concerns about their taxes going up," said Board of Selectmen Chairman Ralph Jones.

"The economy went south in 2008 and this is not a great year to be asking for more money."

The conditions are such, however, that the town could not wait on having an override, Jones said.

"So we must discuss the issues and make sure this override is about the level of services all citizens should enjoy and what tax burden we should all share."

School Committee Chairman Ann Rittenburg explained that the school department has made a tremendous effort to streamline costs by making cuts in the central office, advocating for relief from state and federal mandates, looking at ways to work with the teachers' union to revise the step and increase system currently in place for salaries and consolidations within the system.

Yet the student-needs based budget is not enough to meet the goals – set by the federal government, state government and Belmont school system – of what a public school system must provide to its students, Rittenburg said.

"I understand how difficult it is for people to think about paying any more taxes than they do now," she said. "I know this personally with my husband in the commercial real estate market and not selling a building for 18 months. We are living off our savings right now."

But Rittenburg said she and her husband, despite struggling financially, realize that the community needs investment.

If the school system does not maintain its excellent service to students, Rittenburg said, the town will be "undoing what makes Belmont a desirable place to live."