Department heads say they have cut budget to bare bones
By Greg Ellison
(March 31, 2022) With expenditure requests outpacing projected revenues in its FY23 draft budget, the Berlin Town Council voted on Monday to delay a scheduled public hearing for real property tax rates until April 11.
During a first reading for the proposed FY23 tax rate on March 4, the recommended budget maintained the current tax rate of 81.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Mayor Zach Tyndall said the unaltered rate would generate an additional $143,000 over the current year based on increased property assessments.
“It does show additional income by keeping the rate as current for FY22,” he said.
On Monday, however, Tyndall noted the most recent draft budget reflected expenses outpacing revenues by roughly $462,000
“That’s OK at this stage, but it does take some problem solving,” he said.
Looking ahead, Berlin has several budget work sessions slated for April, including one on the general fund on April 4, utility funds on April 11 and expenditures review on April 18.
Budget introduction is slated for May 9 with adoption on May 23.
To address budget imbalances, Tyndall adopted a previous suggestion from Council member Jay Knerr to combine tax rate and budget adoption.
“Then we can set a tax rate and budget side by side,” he said. “Looking at what those are revenues are, what the expenditures are and where we actually need to come in.
In the interim, Tyndall asked department heads to continue to scour spreadsheets for cost cuts.
Finance Director Natalie Saleh
“Go back, sharpen the pencils and see where we come in at,” he said.
Finance Director Natalie Saleh asked where those cuts might be found.
“Every single department head called me, assuring what they requested was what they need to operate,” she said.
Saleh also cautioned that should the council fail to adopt a property tax rate on May 9, Berlin might miss a deadline for inclusion in Worcester County tax rolls.
“We got an email remainder yesterday,” she said.
Because of the time element, the council voted to reschedule the tax rate public hearing for April 11 at 7 p.m.