Report: Bedford Town Budget May Exceed Guidelines

BEDFORD, MA—Bedford’s fiscal 2017 budget might rise beyond the Finance Committe’s guidelines.

The current draft of Bedford’s fiscal 2017 budget shows an increase of 3.4 percent from the current fiscal year and a 2.5 percent budget increase from the Finance Committee’s guidelines, according to a report by Wicked Local Bedford.

Reports Andrew Cardinale, who broke the story on Wicked Local’s website.

Town Manager Richard Reed said the current draft of the budget carries a 3.4 percent increase over the current fiscal year, above the 2.5 percent budget guideline previously set by the Finance Committee. Reed said the additional increase can be attributed to two additions to the budget not present in fiscal 2016, which ends June 30.

The first is $104,000 for a pilot program to test the need for expansion of local public transportation services. The bulk of that money will go toward contracting out bus services, and slightly more than $4,000 will be added to an existing salary for the management and oversight of the program.

Selectwoman Margot Fleischman added that 72 percent of respondents in Bedford to a 2014 national citizens survey were either strongly or somewhat interested in expanded public transportation services. While the money could be used to run a study, she said the pilot program would allow for more-accurate results.

“This will maximize the value of that money to be able to better understand what demand is,” said Fleischman.

The other major addition to the fiscal 2017 budget is $35,000 to the Finance Department for information technology consulting services. Town Finance Director and Treasurer/Collector Victor Garofalo explained that the funds will be used to for projects that go beyond the scope of expertise for the town’s existing IT personnel.

Manager Reed presented the information at a town meeting Monday, according to the report.