Gray
Manager submits budget
Proposed 1.8% increase
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray--
Town Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz has submitted
his proposed budget to the Gray Town Council and
the bottom line is a proposed net increase of 1.8%.
The draft budget does not include recommendations
for employee salary increases and the Council can
adjust the budget bottom line at any time until
10 days before Town Meeting, which is June 11.
Budget development has been ongoing since January.
The Department Heads met with the Manager and Council
on January 8 to discuss their programs and be available
for questions from the Council. Since then, the
Council and Manager have met several times at budget
workshops where they fine tuned the revenues and
projected fixed and other costs. Then every line
item was reviewed by both Council and Manager. They
project that waste disposal fees, salt prices, energy
related costs, compensation and insurances are likely
to increase over next year.
In his explanatory message, Mr. Berkowitz said that,
"The proposed budget is only related to town
expenses. County tax and education have yet to be
factored in."
Mr. Berkowitz noted that the budget request depends
on a transfer of $328,000 from reserves and $520,500
from the Undesignated Fund Balance (UFB).
The UFB is surplus money account that currently
has about 4 million dollars in it. The past two
years, the Town Auditor noted that Gray's UFB was
high and compared to nearby towns, one of the highest.
He recommended that Gray write a policy that defines
how much money will be allowed to go in the UFB
and acts as a guideline for fiscal decisions by
the Manager and Council.
The Town completed their UFB policy in February
2004. It states, in part, that the town "shall
maintain the level of the Undesignated Fund Balance
at an amount no greater than two twelfths (1/6)
of the approved appropriation for the municipal
budget, the town's portion of the MSAD #15 local
assessment, county, and overlay. This is in addition
to the Crisis Fund." Currently, with 4 million
in surplus in the UFB, it is about almost 40% over
their recommended cap.
Mr. Berkowitz says that the UFB amounts should take
into consideration all the outstanding receivables
which would make the amount $731,000.
