Less than a month after raising the prospect of "draconian" cuts to rectify the largest shortfall in town history, Wellesley officials now say they can balance the budget without asking voters to approve a tax override.
In January, the first look at what town departments and boards requested for the fiscal year beginning July 1 projected revenue at $108 million and expenses at $114 million. A month later, the shortfall appeared to be closer to $5 million, but officials expressed concern about the possibility of "draconian" cuts in services to narrow the gap. The largest operating budget override ever approved by the town was $3.1 million in 2006, and voters had rejected a $3.5 million request as recently as 2005. Now, says Sheryl Strother, the town's financial director, Wellesley is looking at a balanced budget, with projected expenses and revenue for fiscal 2009 of $112 million.
Eliminating the need for an override of Proposition 2 1/2 tax limits took on added urgency this year as officials face deadlines to apply for state funding to help with the cost of renovating or replacing the aging high school building. If the application is successful, the state may fund 40 percent or more of the projected cost of $136 million to $152 million. Because voters could be asked as early as December to approve a debt exclusion for whatever the state doesn't contribute, officials were reluctant to ask for a tax increase this spring on the operating budget.
The dramatically improved budget picture is due to a number of factors, Strother said. The most significant are an upward revision in what the town thinks it will receive from the state in educational funding and a downward revision in what it expects to pay for health insurance for employees, Strother said.
Governor Deval Patrick's requested budget for fiscal 2009 includes $1.9 million in Chapter 70 funds - state support for schools - for Wellesley. Initially, Strother said, Wellesley officials factored in only about half of that amount. While the final number won't be settled until the Legislature approves the budget and the governor signs it, probably in June, Wellesley Town Meeting must approve its fiscal 2009 budget during its annual session, which will begin March 31.
Strother said recent conversations with Wellesley's state representative, Alice Peisch, have made town officials "feel more emboldened to expect all of it." In addition, Strother said, negotiations with the town's health insurance provider resulted in cost increases that are about $1 million less than projected.
With the School Committee cutting its operating budget by more than $1 million and both the schools and the town cutting the capital budget by $1 million, the shortfall is only about $2 million. And that amount, Strother said, can be covered through "some more aggressive revenue assumptions" in some categories and by requesting supplemental funding this year for over-budget snow-removal costs in fiscal 2008 rather than add those costs to the fiscal 2009 plan.
The recent news is a relief to many taxpayers, but angers others. The absence of an override this spring "should not be confused with the idea that an override was not necessary," said a newsletter from the Committee for Education in the 21st Century, a citizens group organized in 2005 to lobby against school budget cuts.
"The failure to seek an override comes at a substantial cost," the newsletter stated. "That cost is the continued degradation of the current educational program to an increasing enrollment in the Wellesley Public Schools in both the upcoming fiscal year and in years going forward. And, as we have seen repeatedly in the past, once cuts are made, they are rarely, if ever, restored."
