By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — An operating budget with expenses totaling $81,382,296 was approved by the voters attending the Annual Town Meeting on June 12 for Fiscal Year 2024.
The Finance Committee provided to the voters a break down of the “average” tax bill of $10,500 based on the assessment of the “average” single family home in town of $750,000 and a visual aid to explain the percentage of their tax bill that would be use to support the various sectors of the budget.
ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX ALLOCATION
FOR A $750,000 PROPERTY VALUE
($10,500 Tax Bill)
The dollar amount and percent share of the average tax bill is as follows:
Education: $5,204/ 50%
(Public, Vocational, Technical & Agricultural Schools)
Pension & Benefits: $1,927 / 18%
(Current Town and School Employees and Retirees)
Exempt Debt Service: $829 / 8%
(Middle/High School Construction, Police Station Renovations,Hood School Renovations, Batchelder School Renovations, Smith Property, etc.)
Police Department: $606 / 6%
General Services: $540 / 5%
(Library, Town Clerk, Elder Services, Veterans’ Services, Code Enforcement, Community Planning Commission, Conservation Commission, Parks & Recreation, etc.)
Administration & Finance: $488 / 5%
(General Town Administrative Office, Finance Department, Town Counsel, Human Resources, IT Department, General Insurance, Reserve Fund, etc.)
Fire Department: $464 / 4%
Public Works: $442 / 4%
(Road Maintenance, Engineering, Snow & Ice operations, Tree Maintenance, Solid Waste Management, Street Lighting, Grounds and Cemetery Maintenance, Machinery Maintenance, Facilities Maintenance, etc.)
From this model, the voters were told, they could input their own tax bill to determine the actual dollar amount they are contributing to the support the town’s expenses, both immediate operating expenses and long-term investments, such as capital projects and debt service.
According to the FinCom, the uses of funds and sources of revenue are as follows:
USES OF FUNDS – FY2024
- Education: $38,262,928 / 47%
- Pension & Benefits: $14,605,110 / 18%
- Debt Exclusion Taxes: $6,302,988 / 8%
- Public Works: $4,768,847 / 6%
- Police: $4,396,853 / 5%
- Fire: $4,087,918 / 5%
- General Services: $3,950,612 / 5%
- Administration & Finance: $3,740,272 / 4%
- Non-Exempt Debt (annual capital projects): $1,266,768 / 2%
TOTAL EXPENSES: $81,382,296 / 100%
SOURCES OF REVENUE – FY2024
- Residential Real Estate Taxes: $48,918,171 / 60%
- State Aid: $10,092,621 / 13%
- Commercial/Industrial Real Estate Taxes: $6,670,660 / 8%
- Debt Exclusion Taxes: $6,059,595 / 7%
- Other Financing Sources: $3,640,304 / 5%
- Other Fees & Taxes: $3,245,945 /4%
- Motor Vehicle Excise Tax: $2,755,000 / 3%
TOTAL REVENUE: $81,382,296 / 100%
Action taken by the voters on Articles 1-24 were as follows:
- Article 1: FY2023 Budget Amendment: Passed over
- Article 2: FY2023 Capital Budget Amendment: Appropriated $150,000 from Free Cash to fund the “temporary construction, signage and other mitigation, including temporary traffic signal lights at the intersection of Park and Central Streets.” This action was necessitated by the anticipated closure of Chestnut Street where it passes over the Ipswich River near Park Street to the the failure of the culverts and risk of roadway collapse.
- Article 3: FY2023 Capital Budget Amendment – Synthetic Turf Athletic Field: An amendment to the funding mechanism for the replacement of the synthetic turf field at Arthur J. Kenney Field previously approved last year was OK’d by the voters. Rather than pay for the work through bonding it will be paid through bond premiums for $356,000. It was stressed that no new monies were being requested.
- Article 4: Fund FY2023 Snow and Ice Deficit: A total of $395,900 was approved to cover the town’s current snow and ice deficit through Free Cash.
- Article 5: FY2023 Appropriate Funds to Capital Improvement Stabilization Fund: $1,397,236 was unanimously voted to be transferred from Free Cash to be added to the Capital Improvement Stabilization Fund. These funds are used to pay for capital purchases and debt service.
- Article 6: FY2023 Transfer Funds to Other Post Employment Benefits Liability Trust Fund: An additional $100,000 was transferred from Free Cash to the town’s OPEB Trust Fund, which had a balance of $3,008,002 prior to the transfer.
- Article 7: FY2023 Appropriate Funds to Stabilization Fund: Similar to the previous article, voters unanimously approved a transfer of $300,000 from Free Cash into the town’s rainy day fund, which had a balance of $4,078,073 prior to the transfer.
- Article 8: FY2023 Transfer Funds to Solid Waste Stabilization Fund: This article was passed over. The fund has a current balance of $148,399.
- Article 9: FY2023 Transfer Funds to Water Stabilization Fund: This article was passed over. It has a balance of $2,948,022.
- Article 10: FY2023 Appropriate Funds to Participating Funding Arrangement Fund: The sum of $430,695 from Free Cash — an amount equal to the surplus “generated from active employee health insurance in FY22.” The PFAF had a balance of $1,526,761 prior to the transfer.
- Article 11: FY2023 Transfer Funds to School District Reserve Fund for Unanticipated/Unbudgeted Costs for Special Education, Out-of-District Tuition, or Transportation: A total of $150,000 was transferred into this fund by unanimous vote.
- Article 12: FY2023 Appropriate Funds for Legal Expenses – 20 Elm Street: This article was passed over. Select Board member Vincenzo Stuto explained to a voter that they believe they have enough funds remaining in the account to cover the necessary legal expenses at this time as the town is awaiting a decision from the state on its Safe Harbor claim made in 2019 related to this Ch 40B proposal.
- Article 13: FY2023 Appropriate Funds to Cover Grant Deficits: Audits revealed deficits in three grant accounts “all related to unallowable expenditures that were determined by audits conducted after the close of prior fiscal years.” The deficits were covered by Free Cash appropriations of $47,969 toward a FEMA grant; $15,585 in a CARES grant; and $33,250 in a Chapter 90 Fund.
- Article 14: Create Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund: This vote enables a fund to be created into which the town’s share of any opioid class action settlement funds could be deposited in the future. No funds were transferred into it at this time.
- Article 15: Prior Year Bills: A total of $166,475 was appropriated to pay prior year bills from FY23 operating budget authorized in June 2022.
- Article 16: Select Town Officers: the Select Board was authorized to conduct this routine task.
- Article 17: Hear and Act on Reports of Town Officers and Committees: The printed Town Report was voted to be sufficient in lieu of oral reports from town officers and committees.
- Article 18: Increase Senior Tax Rebate: The Select Board and FinCom recommended that the amount each senior could receive in the tax work off program be increased from $750 to $1,000 for up to 100 hours of work, noting that when the work off program was created back in April 2000, the amount was $500. However, Amy DiChiara pointed out that minimum wage is now $15 per hour and this proposal would only give the seniors $10 per hour. She proposed increasing it to $1,500. Several speakers passionately spoke in favor of the increase to help the seniors out given the rapid rise in the taxes they pay. The amendment was successful on a voice vote.
- Article 19: FY2024 Operating Budget: The town’s operating budget of $79,727,402 was approved on a voice vote. In the second motion of Article 19, a total of $7,569,756 was approved to fund debt service and pensions and benefits
- Article 20: FY2024 One-Time Fire Department Recruit and Paramedic Training: $605,049 was approved from Free Cash and $198,588 from Ambulance Reserve Fund to cover for this one time expense attributed to a significant turnover in the department due to recent retirements and additional anticipated retirements.
- Article 21: Fund Retirement Obligations: $190,000 from Free Cash was approved.
- Article 22: FY2024 Appropriate Funds to Other Post Employment Benefits Liability Trust Fund: $375,000 was approved through raise and appropriate.
- Article 23: Authorize Treasurer to Enter into Compensating Balance Agreements: a routine request that was approved.
- Article 24: Rescind Authorization to Borrow: The sum of $72,426 from the Little School Roof Replacement approved in Oct. 2015 and $3,000,000 for water distribution and supply infrastructure approved in June 2018 were both rescinded.
Action taken on the remaining articles in the warrant, Articles 25-35, will be covered next week so stay tuned!