FARMINGTON – The annual municipal budget review begins this week as department heads present their proposed spending with an overall total that comes in slightly under current budget figures.
According to the freshly released budget draft, slight increases are offset by slight decreases for an overall proposed budget total of $4,353,320, which represents a .04 percent decrease as compared with the current budget.
While the assessor’s office is requesting a $4,591 increase towards building a revaluation reserve account, which was not funded in the current budget, the legal reserve account jumped by $7,700 to meet an expected case resolution and the administration’s cost of insurance went up slightly, the municipal building, tax anticipation note interest, recreation, fire and highway departments are all proposing budget decreases which acts to more than offset any increases.
The Farmington Public Library is requesting a 4 percent increase in its overall budget total of $122,708. In a letter to selectmen and the budget committee, the requested increase is in wages and insurance. Noted that the library’s funding remained at the 2008 budget amount through last year, added, “It would be irresponsible for us to stay with the 2008 status quo for this year as well,” wrote library treasurer Richard Morton.
Morton said the library’s employees have been asked to increase their health insurance contribution from $75 per month to $100 per month “because the 3 percent requested above (from the town) will not cover the projected 8 percent to 12 percent increase we are expecting.”
In outside agency funding, the overall total of $13,000 spent in the current budget is also proposed for the next budget year, including funding $5,000 for the Abused Women’s Advocacy Project. At town meeting last year, the funding was cut by a majority vote but was later reinstated after a citizens’ petition requested another special town meeting, with the vote easily passing to restore AWAP’s $5,000 in funding.
Farmington selectmen will go over the budget draft Monday night and the budget committee is set to discuss it 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at the town office.
