WEST NEWBURY — In giving her initial projections for next year's budget, Finance Director Tracy Blais said a deficit may be looming.
At a meeting with selectmen and the Finance Committee on Monday, Blais cautioned town leaders that any numbers discussed at this point were still "very, very preliminary." But they don't look good.
"We're looking at a $200,000 deficit right off the bat," Blais said.
Blais factored in only a 21รขÑ2 percent hike in the town's assessment to Pentucket but acknowledged that recent budget news from the schools indicate the increase is likely to be closer to 10 percent.
Best estimates from the state right now predict a 10 percent drop in state Chapter 70 aid for education and a 100 percent reduction in transportation reimbursement, which translates into $1.6 million less from the state for Pentucket next year. This means more education costs shifting onto the towns.
The School Committee has asked the Pentucket administration to bring forward a level-funded budget — which would mean a cut in services. It will also consider the educational impacts of reducing the spending plan by $1 million as a way to make up for some of the potential losses in state aid. But that plan still assumes a $600,000 increase over this year's assessments to the three district towns.
Merrimac has already indicated that it can afford no more than $106,000 increase for Pentucket next year. In a "best-case scenario," West Newbury might realize an extra $280,000 in increased revenues next year, Blais said.
"Even if we consider giving it all to Pentucket, we still won't have enough," she said.
"We need to start thinking of a different (business) model to attack this," selectmen Chairman Glenn Kemper said.
The board asked Blais to investigate savings from consolidating inspectional services and asking the library to tap its trust fund to help maintain its current level of services for a year or two.
Departments that collect fees will be asked to become self-funding, and adjustments to how the road improvement program is paid for may be considered.
Using a grant from the Community Preservation Fund to offset costs for upgrades to Page School might also be possible.
Regionalizing health or public safety dispatch services won't solve the short-term money crunch but could offer sizable savings in the long term, the board agreed.
A plan to defray costs to the Health Department for trash pickup has met with some push-back in the community. The health board recently notified residents that as of Jan. 1 it was implementing a new waste reduction program that emphasizes increased recycling. Under the program, each household is permitted two 32-gallon barrels or four 18-gallon barrels of trash each week. Any trash exceeding that limit or recyclables put at the curb on nonrecycling days will not be picked up.
"In the event that this waste reduction program is not effective in reducing the trash tonnage, the town will need to take more drastic measurers that may impose further waste limits. Recycling is a state mandate," the health board stated in a notice sent to homeowners last week. The board was referring to the state Department of Environmental Protection agency's Waste Disposal Ban Regulation, a spokesperson from the department said on Tuesday.
With trash disposal the single largest expense in the Health Department's budget, the board contends it is taking this step as a way to do its part to reduce spending in a tough economic climate.
But resident Rene Guilmet told selectmen the board's claim about a state mandate was simply not true. The program has the potential to penalize some families in town just because they are larger and therefore may generate more trash, he said.
Finance board member David Archibald argued that pay-as-you-throw type of programs are "picking on someone who throws out a lot of trash, but might not use any other town services." These folks are still paying for the library and the schools, even if they don't use them, he said.
But with the town facing a possible quarter of a million dollar shortfall next year, Selectman Dick Cushing said the time has come for a conversation about "what people want to pay for and what they don't want to pay for." The possibility of a tax override shouldn't be ruled out, he said.
Kemper said it was important to first look at the budget proposal, see how services will be impacted, and look for alternative solutions.
"Then at least we can go to the town and say 'We've done all this, but we still need an override.'"
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