BRUNSWICK

A series of cuts to the proposed 2014 municipal budget received informal approval during a special Town Council meeting Thursday.

The budget eliminations, in concert with steep reductions already proposed by the town’s school board, would drop the associated property tax increase to less than 7 percent, per a recommendation made by town councilors earlier this week.

School board members Wednesday arrived at a list of cuts worth $772,742. On Thursday night, it was the Town Council’s turn.

For 2 / hours, Town Manager Gary Brown and various department heads made suggestions how to flense $412,500 from next year’s budget.

Brown’s list, described as “Tier 1,” includes cuts to police vacation and holiday pay, public works administration and the Nancy Drive reconstruction project, which alone is valued at $250,000.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 follow, but are so severe that nobody on the council — except for District 4 Councilor John Perreault — wanted to go that far.

The two lists of curtailments and eliminations would allow the town to meet its goal of tapering a proposed 10.4 percent increase to 6.8 percent. With Brown’s recommended reductions, the town’s spending would be down 2.7 percent from 2012, while the schools’ would be less by 9.2 percent.

For 2013-14, every additional $332,000 spent increases the property tax rate 1 percent, Finance Director John Eldredge said.

“We may be on the high end of the target range,” Brown said, “but we have hit the target range.”

The total proposed 2014 budget for town and schools is $58.4 million. Depending on how many pieces get left on the chopping block, the number will drop by the time it’s formally adopted May 23.

The town spends $21.4 million on its municipal workings. Public safety is the largest portion, making up 38.7 percent of the operating budget. Public Works is next, at 17.8 percent; together, they make up a little more than half of the municipal budget.

Expenditures in 2013 went up by $3.7 million, while revenues increased by $3.8 million from the previous year, according to Eldredge.

John Perreault recommended going a bit further with spending cuts.

“I do appreciate the hard work that both sides have done, it’s not easy,” Perreault said. “But if we’re not going to look at cutting anything more, why the heck are we coming in again Monday and Thursday?”

Perreault offered reconstruction of Nancy Drive as an example of projects that would be inconvenient, but could be delayed for a year to ease budget constraints.

The public will be allowed to comment on the reductions during the May 23 budget adoption meeting, but there are no public hearings planned before then, Town Council Chairwoman Suzan Wilson said.

Although councilors spent the first 75 minutes in executive session discussing “disposition of real property,” they made no comment about the closed talks and took no action in public session.

Specifically, no mention was made of a proposal by Coastal Enterprises Inc. to acquire the municipal building and police station at 28 Federal St., as well as several other adjacent properties. The Woolwich-based nonprofit has made preliminary inquiries about buying the properties once the town vacates them in 2014, knocking them down and building a new headquarters in their place.

One of the buildings speculated to be razed is the town’s current Recreation Center, which drew sharp criticism at Monday’s council meeting.

Although many members of the public, as well as several councilors, expected the CEI and Recreation Department issues to be discussed Monday night, Brown and council Chairwoman Suzan Wilson pushed that discussion to the council’s May 13 regular meeting.

Proposed Brunswick budget reductions

Tier 1

POLICE DEPARTMENT
$5,000 removed from holiday/vacation pay
FIRE DEPARTMENT
$10,000 shed replacement
$9,200 training/overtime
$7,000 training
CABLE TV 3
$30,000 coordinator’s position
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
$97,000 deputy director position
TOWN CLERK
$2,500 miscellaneous
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
$2,500 miscellaneous
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
$250,000 Nancy Drive reconstruction
FINANCE DEPT
$2,500 miscellaneous
TECHNOLOGY
$7,500 miscellaneous

Tier 2

CURTIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY
$50,000 operating budget reductions
PEOPLE PLUS TEEN CENTER
$30,000 operating budget reductions
MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
$5,500 budget reductions
JULY FOURTH
$500 budget reductions
PEJEPSCOT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$2,500 operating budget reductions
FIVE RIVERS ARTS ALLIANCE
$4,500 operating budget reductions
GROVESTOWN SCHOOL
$500 operating budget reductions
TOWN COMMONS
$1,500 operating budget reductions
COASTAL TRANSIT
$20,000 operating budget reductions