Proposed Granby Municipal Budget Calls for .6% Increase

The town of Granby is in for another austere budget cycle.

Indeed, Granby Town Manager William Smith presented to the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting on Monday a $13.59 million 2012-13 municipal budget that calls for a .6 percent increase - or $85,186 - over current year’s spending.

“This budget holds the line and keeps the mill rate increase as low as possible, while keeping the same services in town,” Smith said.

Last year, voters approved a budget that included $13.5 million in municipal spending, which represented a 1 percent decrease below the previous year.

The proposed 2012-13 budget is broken into three categories: Town Operations - $9.17 million, representing a 2 percent, or $180,190, increase; Debt Service - $3.3 million, representing a 3.9 percent, or $135,000 decrease; and Capital Budget - $1.1 million, representing a 3.7 percent, or $40,000, increase.

The decrease in debt service is attributable to a drop in interest payments, said Smith, who added that next year the interest payments will likely increase as a result of the recent passage of the capital improvements referendum.

Smith said there are no new expenditures in the proposed 2013 budget, with the main drivers accounting for the increase being $44,000 in pensions, insurance and Social Security obligations as well as $57,000 in anticipated wage settlements related to ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.

“There are no additions [in services] to the present level of expenditures other than to sustain the current operations,” Smith said.  

Still, despite the lack of concrete additions, Smith, upon the request from the Selectmen, included a list “Add Back Requests,” which, as the name indicates, are line items in various places of the budget that re-inserts spending in places that were cut or not funded as a result of austerity measures in recent years.

Among the Add Back items are $65,000 for a payroll accountant; $93,000 for an investigative officer for the Police Department; and $61,000 for the restoration of a public works position.

Still, there was no time frame attached to when, or even if, those proposed Add Back items would be reinserted as requested line items.

First Selectman John Adams said that two workshops - one this Thursday, March 8, the other on March 12, both at 6 p.m. - to further discuss the municipal budget.

The Board of Selectmen will then vote on March 19 to present the budget to the Board of Finance. The finance board will discuss and vote on the municipal and school budget on March 26.

A public hearing will be held on the second Monday in April, while the town vote will be held on the fourth Monday in April, Adams said. If over 230 people vote on the budget at the Town Meeting and it is approved by ⅔ of those present, then the budget passes, Adams said.

If the budget does not pass at the Town Meeting, then the budget will be presented to eligible residents at a machine vote the following Monday, Adams said. If the budget fails at the machine vote, then a two-week sequence of public meetings and votes will be triggered, Adams said.

Day Street Traffic Ordinance Update

Brian Hickey of 14 Day Street South called on the town to use some traffic calming measures on Day Street, either through the passage of an ordinance prohibiting certain vehicles from traveling on the road, using speed bumps and stop signs in the middle of the street or hiring a part-time police officer for the specific purpose of enforcing traffic laws.

Hickey said that the intensity and speed of the traffic on Day Street has gotten to the point where it is no longer safe to walk with his wife and dog along the road.

Specifically, Hickey said that on one day recently, he observed eight vehicles on the road, seven of which were traveling at rates of speed between 48 and 58 miles per hour; Day Street’s posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour, according to Hickey.

The members of the Board of Selectmen have been discussing passing an ordinance that limits the type of traffic that travels along Day Street and other intra-town roads. The board tabeled the discussion of the ordinance on Monday evening, though Vice Chair Sally King said that she had conversations with Fran Armentano, the town’s director of community development, about the issue.