Somersworth adjusts to difficult 2010-11 budget

Jun 23, 2010 — Foster's Daily Democrat

Kyle Stucker

Jun. 23, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- SOMERSWORTH -- Public Library Director Debora Longo said Tuesday she's disappointed city councilors removed $10,000 from the library's 2010-2011 operating budget, although she said "it is what it is" and the library will do "its best to do what it can with what the council gives us."

While approving the upcoming fiscal year budget Monday, the city council reduced the library's budget from $318,967 to $308,967. Longo said the decrease, which puts the library about $2,200 under the fiscal year 2010 budget, may strain some of the services or personnel at the library because of higher health insurance costs.

Despite this, though, she said a $300,000 library budget "is still good" and "not insignificant" because libraries are closing across the country.

"People need to realize they can't have everything," she said. "I'm sure the (city council) has the best intentions of the city at heart and do the best to meet those needs (when they make cuts). It just gets harder every year."

Several other cuts were also made Monday -- the largest being a $675,000 reduction in the school district budget. Other cuts included eliminating the purchase of one of the two new police cruisers, eliminating the purchase of a new sidewalk plow, and a $1,900 cut from the fire department's fund for a new thermal imaging camera.

The total appropriation for fiscal year 2011 is now officially $41,129,821 million, down from the $41,778,171 million proposed during the public reading of the budget ordinance on June 7. The tax rate is now about $27.55 per $1,000 of valuation, which is about a $1.74 increase from the previous year.

Official tax rate numbers weren't available Tuesday, as Finance Director Scott Smith couldn't be reached for comment.

Longo said she couldn't comment Tuesday on where the $10,000 would be trimmed out of the library's budget, as she had yet to speak with the library's board of trustees. She said the library will try to balance the cuts across the board as best as it can, and areas that may be affected most include the staff, library materials and the fund for new books.

The school district budget is now about $23.4 million, which is about $2 million higher than last year due to the new elementary school and higher health insurance costs. The school board decided at a meeting Tuesday how all but $25,000 of their $675,000 cut would affect services and programs.

A variety of positions and stipends were cut, and the district has until June 30 to decide what else will be reduced to meet the city council's mandated $675,000 reduction.

Superintendent of Schools Karen Soule said before the Tuesday meeting "any cut in any budget impacts programs." She said most of the eliminated positions won't result in lost jobs, however, as individuals can be redistributed through the district because there will be positions vacant due to attrition.

School Board Chairman Jerry Perkins said at the meeting "no one wanted to cut any" of the programs or positions, but now that the cuts have been made the school district will "continue to provide a quality education" and the "core values" of education to its students no matter the budget bottom line.

Foster's surveyed 27 individuals Tuesday around the downtown area, as well as in the public library, Somersworth Plaza and Noble Pines Park about their thoughts on the budget decisions.

Of those 27 individuals, only two who knew about the approval wished to comment on the record, while two individuals declined comment, 14 didn't know about the decision or the city's budget talks, eight weren't Hilltop City residents, and one individual wished to remain anonymous.

Ralph Emerson, 37, of Main Street, said he thinks "the city always spends too much money" each year and thought the decision to reduce the school's budget proposal was a good idea because there "is a lot of wasteful spending in our schools."

"They're wasting a lot of money... on hiring extra people to staff our schools and schools across the country," said Emerson. "I think all cities need to reel in what is necessary and what is not necessary to spend money on."

"I just don't like spending money."

He said he was also against the tax rate increase, although he said feels "Somersworth has always had high taxes."

"I don't really see anything happening for our tax dollars," said Emerson, who plans to move north of Wolfeboro within the year, a decision he said has more to do with the fact he doesn't like "city life" rather than his tax bill. "The downtown appears to be deteriorating."

Cindy Barrer, of Long Leaf Lane, said she didn't have a lot of information about the budget decision, although she said she can see why cuts to the school and library budget proposals were made.

"I wish the library and schools could have all the money they need, but we need to be able to stay in our homes," she said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-1268-46366918