Last Tuesday, March 29, was a big day in Town Hall. The Board of Selectmen signed off on next year’s budget and closed the warrant, the agenda for Town Meeting, scheduled for April 26.
Annual Town Meeting is the single most important event in the civic life of our community. It functions as the legislative branch of town government, controlling the purse strings, setting the policies, and determining the course the town will follow in the year ahead. It always makes for a fascinating evening: often provocative, occasionally comic, as neighbors thrash out what will become their common path.
A lively and occasionally contentious discussion of the annual budget is always the centerpiece of the community’s deliberations. This year the Selectman are proposing an Omnibus Budget for Fiscal 2012 of $15,576,953.79. This represents a modest increase of just $29,812.39 over the 2011 budget, and it marks the third year in a row that the town has been able to avoid an override without cuts in personnel or services.
Truro’s fiscal heath did not come by accident, of course. It represents a commitment by everyone throughout town government to focus on getting the greatest value for the fewest dollars. The external pressures are severe: the town’s health insurance costs went up another 10% for the year, for example, while retirement benefits went up 7%. Energy costs are expected to soar as well. With a limited tax base, and few other sources of income, keeping budget increases low is a major challenge.
Work on the budget began last fall, when the Selectmen set a target of level funding for all departmental discretionary spending. Throughout the winter the various department heads worked with Town Administrator Nolan to meet that target. The Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee, working through the Budget Task Force, added a functional evaluation to their budget review, beginning an ongoing analysis of salaries, benefits, energy costs, purchase of services, and other functional categories, in addition to the traditional department review. This review, combined with the exceptional work of Town Accountant Trudi Brazil and the wage and benefit restraint of both union and non-union employees, allowed Truro to avoid the overrides and service cuts that plagued most Cape Cod towns during the economic downturn.
The budget requests for public education are particularly noteworthy. Although Special Education Costs rose nearly $56,000, and the cost of our assessment for the Tech School rose an additional $30,000, the overall education budget rose by less than $50,000. Meanwhile the town continues to invest where appropriate. The FY ’12 budget includes several major investments from the Operating Capital Account, including $110,000 for a new boiler at Truro Central School, $50,000 for a new mobil lift at the DPW facility, $35,000 for a new police cruiser, and $30,000 for a multi-passenger van for the Council on Aging.
Four other financial articles relate to major expenditures: Article 6 asks Town Meeting to approve Community-Preservation-Act-funding for affordable housing, historical preservation, and open space. Specific recommendations include $225,000 for a joint project by Highland Affordable Housing and Habitat for Humanity to build an affordable single-family house,with another $250,000 set aside as a reserve if needed to complete the large affordable housing development on Sally’s Way. Additionally, the CPC wishes to invest $27,275 to restore the maps and artwork owned by the Truro Historical Society and another $27,212 to complete the restoration of the historic barn at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill.
Article 8 proposes two major capital improvement appropriations. The first would invest $50,000 in an engineering study on how best to repair or replace the culvert which runs under Corn Hill Road and drains the rich, working farmland of the Little Pamet Valley. The second asks for $125,000 to begin the federally-mandated demand that the town develop and implement a comprehensive waste water management plan.
Article 9 looks for a long-term saving, asking that the town vote to require all eligible retired town employees to enroll in Medicare for their health care, rather than to depend on the current town health care policies. Adoption of article 9 would reduce the Town’s future costs by millions of dollars by shifting the cost from local taxpayers to the federal government. Worth noting: while most retirees would see their out-of-pocket costs drop with no decrease in service, the town would provide supplemental insurance coverage to insure that no one would have to pay more for benefits comparable to what they receive today.
There are several articles requested by the Truro Planning Board. Many are largely housekeeping matters, including Article 16, a required revote on the town’s 2007 approval of tax-exempt status for affordable, accessory dwelling units that was mistakenly never put on the town ballot. Article 17 revisits the question of lot coverage, proposing a maximum coverage area of 15% on lots up to 3 acres and of 5% on lots larger than 3 acres. Last year Town Meeting voters soundly rejected a more restrictive proposal. The Planning Board sees this revision as an easy-to-understand first step to address the issue of "mansionization", although critics are skeptical, given that the top limit under the new bylaw for a house on a 3-acre parcel would be over 19,000 square feet.
Two other Planning Board zoning articles relate to a larger initiative: the efforts of the Energy Committee to win state certification for Truro as a “Green Community,” with the increased state funding that such a designation would bring. Articles 20, 21, and 22 would permit the town to establish a large solar farm on town land adjacent to the transfer station. Such an initiative is one of the requirements for “Green Community” status. The other requirement, adoption of the Stretch Energy Code, is addressed by Article 23. The Stretch Code would require more energy-efficient building techniques for new construction in the town of Truro, which has been a major focus of the Energy Committee for almost a full year.
An unusually large number of citizen petition articles complete this year’s warrant, addressing questions from the local and seasonal to the national land international:
- Article 24 seeks to increase by one month the length of time that seasonal condominium units can be occupied, moving the annual start date back from the end of March to the end of February.
- Articles 25 and 26 revisit the question of lot coverage addressed by the Planning Board with Article 16. Both proposals would significantly decrease the maximum house size that would be permitted.
- Article 27 would repeal the Truro Conservation Bylaw, passed by Town Meeting last year.
- Articles 28 and 29 deal with national political issues. The first would put the town on record as supporting the end of expenditures on war funding in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The second calls on Congress to put forth a constitutional amendment that would remove First Amendment free speech protection, and the spending that has occasioned, from corporations and unions.
Town meeting remains the most direct form of democracy in this country. Its success depends on the active and informed participation of as many people as possible. I encourage you to let your voice be heard. If you are a non-resident taxpayer, don’t hesitate to email me care of the newsletter to let me know what you think. And if you’re a resident I hope to see you at town meeting, working with your neighbors to shape Truro’s future course.
Sincerely,
Curtis Hartman
Chair, Board of Selectmen
eMail Curtis
(508) 349-7004