Selectmen Whittle Down Town Budget Request [Update]

Update 1:37 p.m.: Extensive new information has been added to the article and some parts have been rewritten.

In an effort to get the town-side operating budget for the next fiscal year down to a 3 percent increase, the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday postponed some projects, held off on some purchases, reduced some line items and generally squeezed, nipped and shaved off expenses proposed by town executives.

The result was to get the by Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff down to 6.75 percent, according to figures Kilduff provided Wednesday morning (his original calculation was 6.83 percent). The five selectmen also decided to ask for more information on various other spending items which may bring down the board's proposed budget even more.

Between the cuts (some of them tentative) made by selectmen Tuesday night and information about lower spending requests based on just-discovered information provided by Kilduff Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the town-side (non-education) budget before the selectmen has shrunk by $883,230, to a new total of $41,417,243, which is 6.75 percent above the current 2011-2012 budget of $38,798,485.

Selectmen go back to the chopping block at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Room 206 to look at the next half of the town operating budget, beginning with the Department of Public Works.

The Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting must also vote on the budget for it to receive final approval.

Although some projects were postponed, selectmen were told that a proposed schedule to replace fire trucks, among other expenses, would lead to a sobering rise in expected borrowing from Fiscal Year 2016-2017 through 2027-2028.

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said the schedule she received from fire officials looked like "scary information," and she would consult more with the Fire Commission.

In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, selectmen agreed they still want to finance a $120,000 drill tower to help firefighters train. Spending also needs to start on a townwide property revaluation, mandated by the state every five years and due for completion by January 2014.

Stevenson said in an interview earlier this week that she may propose having part of the $500,000 cost of the revaluation in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 and the rest in the next fiscal year.

The board decided to cut $100,000 in the next fiscal year from a fund used to pay for large firefighter capital projects, reducing the total to $400,000. After the drill tower is paid for (a one-time expense), there should be enough money to fund fire trucks while keeping the fund relatively steady, selectmen said.

The following cuts are a partial list of mostly the larger items:

Student resource officer

The parent group at Darien High School, volunteers at The Depot and others in town have strongly supported hiring a police officer to work part time at Darien High School as a "student resource officer."

But board members said they worried about the $15,000 expense of providing the officer, whose work in the Police Department would be taken up by other officers working overtime.

"I would potentially advocate for a trial year," Stevenson said. Selectman Gerald A. Nielson Jr. said he agreed. They both agreed with Selectman David Campbell, who said he worried that funding it one year would make it a very unpopular move to cut later if necessary.

Stevenson said she would talk to school officials and others about temporary funding and then get back to the board.

LESS SPENDING BASED ON NEW INFORMATION

Employee benefits—the town's actuary now estimates that $21,658 in the proposed budget will not be needed for the pension fund contribution, that $98,832 won't be needed for the contribution to the police pension fund, another $142,222 won't be needed for the police retiree medical contributions. In addition, the town won't need to spend $2,397 on FICA because of reductions in the part-time workforce. The total of all that amounts to $265,109 in lower employee benefits costs.

CUT IN THE REQUEST

Part-time help in the Fire Marshal's office for a state mandate—No town in the state is fully in compliance with state law regarding how often various types of establishments should receive fire inspections, and Darien is in a similar situation, Kilduff said. The Fire Marshal's Office regularly asks for funding to come into compliance with state law, but full compliance always seems to be two to three years away, with seemingly no progress, he said.

The office had 19 hours of part-time help in past years, that had been scaled back to 17 and then 12. This year, the office asked for 19 hours and Kilduff put in for 17. The board reduced it to the current 12 hours. Kilduff said that on further reflection it might not be worth the extra funding. Selectmen agreed and cut $8,744 from Kilduff's original request.

Additional custodial maintenance for the larger police station—selectmen cut a request for additional part-time help (saving $22,589).

POSTPONED SPENDING UNTIL AFTER FY 2012-2013

Center Street North parking lot renovation—a $300,000 improvement project that was postponed for a year because selectmen said it didn't seem to be absolutely necessary. Parts of the lot to the south have already been renovated.

Police boat motors—instead of replacing them this year, the board decided to wait another year ($19,560 in savings). Stevenson said she spoke with the company that maintains the motors, and a company employee said the motors could last another year.

Fire marshal vehicle—based on discussions with an official in the fire marshal's office, a nine-year-old vehicle with 75,000 miles on it was judged capable of hanging on for another year (saving $44,450). A replacement radio for the vehicle will also be put on hold (saving $6,100).

Town Hall Auditorium lights—the town should wait to replace current lights, which are on their last legs, until the 2013-2014 fiscal year, and if the lights give out in the meantime, an appropriation can be made immediately, selectmen decided.

SELECTMEN SKEPTICAL, WANT TO KNOW MORE

Sidewalks—selectmen said they supported a new sidewalk for the Post Road between Hollow Tree Ridge Road and Hillside Avenue, but were skeptical about the need on Christie Hill Road (estimated to cost $69,750) under . Stevenson said she'd talk to Public Works Director Bob Steeger about the matter. Steeger has already asked for a $20,000 reduction in the appropriation for sidewalks, but asked that the money be added to the reserve fund for public works equipment replacement.

Sand at Weed Beach—Stevenson said she would visit Weed Beach to look at the sand and see if it really needs replacing. She prefers replacing Pear Tree Point Beach sand first, because that beach has waited longer for a replacement. As much as $44,500 in spending may be involved.

Furniture in a facility at Weed Beach—Selectment wanted to see if private fundraising might be used instead. A total of $8,800 was tentatively cut for tables, chairs and a desk in various spots, including a warming hut for the paddle tennis courts, an area for lifeguards and in the beach house.

Annual town report—Selectman David Bayne and other selectmen wanted to know how much of the report is necessary under state statute. Kilduff will look into whether money can be saved in creating it and printing it up, consistent with the report looking professional enough for the town not to be embarassed by it. An estimated $1,000 might be saved, according to Kilduff.

Police Department Overtime—Police Chief Duane Lovello has been asked repeatedly to come up with a detailed explanation of his department's need for overtime expenses, Kilduff said. Many town officials, particularly on the Board of Finance, want more details, he said. "We are eagerly awaiting a detailed analysis of overtime," Stevenson said. "We just want the public to have a more clear understanding" of the need for the overtime. A total of $22,589 was requested.

Police Department "field based reporting"—a proposal to spend $44,333 on communications equipment was tentatively cut. Selectmen want to know more about the need for the equipment to help with communications in a couple of spots in town where radios haven't been working. Selectmen said they understood that the new, 170-foot communications tower just erected at the Police Department headquarters was supposed to fix that problem.

Noroton Fire Department—Electricity costs are higher at that department, which didn't join the town's joint electricity-buying effort, as the Darien and Noroton Heights fire departments have done, Kilduff said. Stevenson said that department's spending requests in recent years haven't given town officials the level of detail found in similar reports from the other two volunteer fire departments. There is no specific amount of money at stake, although the independent, volunteer fire department receives a grant for overall expenses from the town.

TRIMMED BACK

Beautifying a berm at Darien Railroad Station—Nielson persuaded selectmen to retain $3,000 of the request for $7,500 for the project, which was also getting donations from volunteers.

Town counsel—the town's lawyer, Wayne Fox of Stamford, has said he would not object if the rate of his hourly legal fees were cut back, although that may not result in less spending because the lawyers' hours vary, depending on how much work is needed in particular cases. According to Kilduff's estimation of the savings on Wednesday morning, the town would avoid spending $10,109 for work done by various lawyers.

Winter holiday lights—a proposed increase in funding to $15,000 was removed, leaving $7,000, the same as this fiscal year. Selectmen said the extra expense was not necessary.

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Editor's note: For links to more information about the town budget, see ""

Correction: An earlier version of this article said the Noroton Fire Department had not hooked up natural gas. The energy matter under discussion Tuesday evening was electricity, not natural gas.