The problem with hard decisions

The problem with hard decisions is... well, they're hard.
It's easy to say that elected officials and professional staff administrators should buck up and make the hard decisions that town needs made, and I would certainly agree that these folks have a responsibility to work diligently on resolving the tough budget issues that the town faces today.
But I would also remind residents of Andover that we have the priviledge of an Open Town Meeting government, and that the residents bear a significant responsibility as the legislative body of the town. Leaders indeed need to lead, but voters ultimately make the tough decisions about whether or not the leaders are headed in the direction the town is willing to follow.
To some people, it seems that there are "common sense" solutions to the budget problems that the town faces, and that "town priorities" can be a guidepost for resolving these choices. If only it could be so easy.
Andover is a town of many people, with diverse backgrounds, ages, financial circumstances, and ultimately, priorities. To speak of "town priorities" is to beg the question - what really are the priorities of the town? Each department of the town government has a mission statement and associated goals. The school department has a well-articulated 'vision' published in the budget document, and the Vision 21 study several years ago attempted to craft a town-wide statement of shared values and priorities. In addition, each elected official may have their individual priorities, or those they feel are important to some particular constituency.
I believe that there is much to be gained by having our town leaders spend much more time (outside of budget season) meeting together to deliberate these various 'visions', and to attempt to forge a common strategy for pursuit of an integrated view of where the town is trying to be in the future, from both a services and a financial standpoint.
Common sense doesn't always solve our problems either... When faced with state and federal unfunded mandates that place crushing financial burdens on the town, with essential expenses such as health care rising 10-15% per year, with a strongly unionized labor force, and with budget authority split between multiple elected bodies, the management of the town must often face choices between alternatives that make limited sense to many observers.
While Andover's leaders face some difficult negotiations and choices this year, the voters also hold responsibility for decisions that may have significant and long-lasting impact on the town. Those who criticize their elected leaders for failing to make the necessary decisions should give some though to their own accountability for these decisions, and certainly should reflect on whether they, or someone else they know, might be capable of providing effective guidance through these tradeoffs. If so, then they have ample opportunity to contribute - immediately - to helping resolve those dilemas [Several residents decided to attend this morning's financial planning meeting, and were openly welcomed to literally 'sit at the table' and participate with the subcommittees as peers], and should be encouraged to run for office.

Morning thunder

The shouting began early on Thursday morning, before I was even half way through my Venti Vanilla (non-fat) Latte. The 7:30 am meeting of the three Long Range Financial Planning subcommittees was certainly energetic, with some frank discussion about the concerns regarding the structure of override proposals and the challenges in reaching multi-board agreement on how to move forward.
The discussion was sucessful at getting a lot of concerns and emotions aired, but the only issue resolved was the agenda for the next subcommittees meeting on Wednesday, 20 Feb at 5:30 pm. The group is attempting to get the analyst from Moody's to call in to the meeting, to give their advice on how to avoid any further slip in the town's bond rating. The group will also review the latest data on revenue and expense forecasts for FY09, and will likely discuss more concrete concepts for how to structure the override and associated contingent appropriations.
The issue here is to decide on (1) the dollar amount for the override question, (2) how & when the override revenues would be used if approved, and (3) whether to adjust the current allocation of 'available' (non override) revenues to reduce the impact on some departments in the event the override is not approved.
When the Town and School budgets were presented to the three boards on 4 Feb, members from each of the boards suggested that we need to consider some changes to the overall budget allocations, to avoid the severe impacts to the school education and athletics programs that have been identified. The Andover High School has a fantastic athletic program, and I doubt anyone in Andover would be content to let the program be eliminated. Several town-side departments have also identified significant strain and shortfalls required to fit within the available revenue budgets. I am particularly concerned with the budget impacts within the Police and Fire-Rescue departments, which have been operating on minimally-staffed shifts and have insuffucient expense budgets to properly maintain basic protective equipment for the employees. Override or not, these are areas I believe we need to be concerned about.

Budget sparring

Staff writer Brian Messenger is punching below the belt.
His front-page article in today's Andover Townsman (click here) paints a picture of our Town Manager as the budget-slashing Grinch in this year's budget process, but it's just not so.
At a Tri-Board meeting on 3 Dec 07, the Board of Selectmen, School Committe, and Finance Committee jointly developed and approved a plan for the budget formation process, including very specific guidance on how the available revenue was to be partioned across Town and School Departments. While the budget document is titled as the "Town Manager's Recommended Budget", the top-line allocation to each department was in fact directed by the Tri-Board policy.
The Manager and his Department Heads developed town-side budgets in compliance with the Tri-Board policy (based on available revenues), and was required by statute to call it his "recommended" budget. The School Department 'preliminary' budget was released on 18 January, and includes no acknowledgement of the Tri-Board policy and budget allocation, and indeeds exceeds the targeted budget by roughly $2.9 Million. With great reluctance, the School Department did present on Monday the impacts of complying with the budget allocations defined at the 3 Dec Tri-Board meeting.
The sparring over the allocation of available FY09 revenue dollars may just be starting, but School Committee member Tony James seems to have taken the gloves off already. After listening to the Town and School presentations, Mr. James summarized by claiming that the impact of the recommend allocation on Town Departments was "nothing", but that there was a "hugely significant and detrimental impact" on the School Department. (I'll comment more on that topic another day...)
The Town and School department budgets are being reviewed in detail over the coming weeks; schedules can be found (here) and (here). The three financial planning sub-committee will meet next on 14 Feb (7:30 am), where the topic of town/school allocation will mostly likely be a central topic.

Community Preservation Act

Andover will vote whether to approve the Community Preservation Act (CPA) or not at the Annual Town Election in March. Information about the CPA can be found at: andovercpa.org

What to leave in, what to leave out

The Town Manager released his Recommended Budget for FY09 last Friday, and will be presenting to a Tri-Board meeting on Monday evening. The 'theme' that he chose for this year's budget is "what to leave in, what to leave out." It seems a fitting theme for the budget discussions this year.
For those interested in watching the budget presentation (from both the Town Manager and the Superintendent of Schools), tune in to cable channel 22 on Monday evening at 7:00 pm.