Saugus begins New Year $11 million in debt

SAUGUS – By this time next week the New Year will be another week older and the town will be $11 million deeper in debt.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said since the town has yet to set a tax rate, he would likely have to borrow funds the second week of January to cover basic operating costs.”We have debt service payments due Feb. 1 and no revenue coming in since we couldn’t set the tax rate,” he said. “Plus we have payroll and other expenses.”The interest on the borrowed funds could cost the town an additional $100,000.The state has refused to set a tax rate for the town since it has yet to bring forth a plan to fund the teachers’ contract. Bisignani had hoped to fund the $330,000 contract through projected savings through the Group Insurance Commission, the state’s health insurance program that town employees enrolled in this past October.However, Town Meeting members nixed the GIC idea.Bisignani said being forced to wait on the tax rate has not been all bad. The delay has allowed for a review of additional growth and valuations. Bisignani said he hoped there might be enough additional growth to make a difference in the current budget.Bisignani said he estimated in May that the town would see $526,000 in growth through the Building Department and now it looks as if it might come in slightly higher.Typically, he said that additional growth would be realized after the tax rate was set and its value would be put toward the next fiscal year’s budget.”In this case we’ll use it in the current fiscal year, so we can get out of this mess,” he said.Bisignani said he plans to call for a special Town Meeting at the end of January, by which time he hopes to have a solution to funding the teachers’ contract.”We’re still looking for a resolution outside of the GIC savings,” he said. “The money was available because of the GIC, but Town Meeting didn’t want to do that.”