Hamilton Selectmen will Compare Level Budget to Level Services

Developing the 2012 Hamilton town budget will begin by comparing how much it will cost to maintain level services versus what services a level budget will provide.

That's what the Board of Selectmen decided when it met on Monday night, even as it finalized the warrant for the special Town Meeting on Oct. 30 that will not include any budget items.

The 2011 budget will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting on May 14, 2011.

The budget process may take on a new look in the coming months, since it will be the first year the town will have a town manager. Town Manager Michael Lombardo came on board after this May's Town Meeting. Under the Town Manager form of government, Lombardo will work with the Finance Committee to develop the budget parameters.

"We'd like to see how many cuts would have to occur to keep the town at zero growth in the budget," said Selectmen Chairman Jennifer Scuteri.

The 2011 town budget, which runs through June 30, 2011, is about $24 million.

But further discussion about the 2012 budget process was cut short because it was listed under "other business" on the board's agenda and was "not an identified agenda item," Scuteri said.

The discussion centered strictly on the town government portion of the budget, which makes up about a third of the total government spending funded by taxes.

Selectmen David Carey asked why the budget process wouldn't start simply by determining how many cuts would be needed to maintain a level budget and decide which services the board feels it would be worth paying to restore.

Scuteri said by developing both numbers it could show how much more it would cost to maintain current services.