Published: 10/4/2019 9:50:22 PM
Modified: 10/4/2019 9:50:10 PM
ATHOL – Members of the town’s Capital Program Committee met Wednesday to begin the process of determining how much cash to seek for distribution to various municipal departments for capital purchases in the next fiscal year. Last year, the committee was allotted $600,000 and ended up spending nearly the entire amount on various items for the police, fire, and public works departments.
Committee Chair Bob Muzzy said he called the meeting to get everyone on the same page. “I was hoping to have some five-year plans from department heads, but I haven’t seen any yet. I know they’re working on them.”
He said he wanted to see what number the committee can come up with that “we feel comfortable with for next year.” Muzzy asked what percentage of the overall municipal budget the committee should ask for — 2, 3, 4 or 5 percent, noting that five percent is about $750,000. Three percent is about $450,000.
“How we get there? I don’t know,” said Muzzy, “(Town Manager) Shaun (Suhoski) has got to find something that’s solid to put toward capital.”
“We really don’t care where he gets it,” said committee member Gino Tontodonato, “as long as we have it.”
Muzzy said the committee needs something to work with, something the committee can depend on. “We won’t really know that number yet until we get the five-year plans,” he said.
Committee member James Smith said he is more concerned with two numbers, saying, “We’ve got a base number, a set amount that we spend every year, whether it’s for leases for DPW vehicles, new cruisers, basic household items we take care of every year. That’s one figure. The second figure is what we have to build on after that. I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t have to worry about where the money comes from. I want a figure. I don’t want to hear ‘oh, we have to get it from here and here’ — no – just give us a figure and that’s it. Plain and simple. When we get free cash, we should be able to figure it out.”
Tontodonato noted the committee spends a lot of money because, “there’s a lot of stuff that needs to get done.” He said the town should look at the largest revenue source, and not the smallest, and take a percentage of that. “It’s wrong for us to try and decide things not knowing how much money we have. That number should be the first thing that’s given to us, and then we look at everything that comes in.”
Smith said the department heads should come to the committee with an outline of what their priorities and needs are. He said, “This five-year plan is not going to work unless we bank money.”
The committee voted to meet Wednesday, Nov. 5 in the hope that department heads will have some information to provide on possible pending capital expenses, and that Suhoski may have – or be close to determining – a solid level of funding for the panel to distribute for FY21.
“I’d like to see that number at 4 percent (of the municipal budget),” said Muzzy. “That would give us about $600,000.”