Saugus selectmen worry about money, town resources in 2009

SAUGUS-Town Manager Andrew Bisignani is afraid that the fiscal stability that town officials worked so hard to achieve in 2008 might very well become a distant memory in 2009.Bisignani said he is afraid that 2009 is going to ring in with a scarcity of resources due to cuts the state has been threatening to make.”It’s going to have a profound effect on services provided and unfortunately will have a dramatic effect on the town of Saugus,” he said. “We reached a sense fiscal stability and I’m afraid now the good that we’ve done, through no fault of our own, we’re subject to matters we have no control of, will be undone.”Due largely to the dire prediction, Bisignani said his resolution for the New Year is to continue to do the best he can with limited resources.”It’s my goal to continue to provide services and resources to the town in the best manner I possibly can and to be positive,” he said.Selectman Peter Rossetti was slightly more optimistic.”I think the consolation is that we’re in better condition than a lot of cities and towns and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.Saugus got a bit of head start on dealing with budget crisis two years ago when a health care deficit and a deficit at Kasabuski Arena, coupled with a revenue shortfall, sent the town into a budgetary tailspin, catching the attention of the Department of Revenue.Just this past December, DOR complimented the town for pulling itself out of the red, but added it was keeping the town on its radar.Donald Wong, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said his hope for the New Year is that town officials and departments will continue to work together.”I think in 2008 we were just getting into everyone working together,” he said. “Now we have rumors that the state might take 10 percent to 20 percent (of state aid), which will make a deficit. I hope the different departments would continue to work together and we could walk through this together.”Bisignani said that was also his hope.He said recent financial issues came with a lot of disagreements and he hopes this time around personal agendas could be set aside and people would work together for the best interest of the community.”The pie is only so big and everyone is fighting for their piece,” he explained. “There were a lot of disagreements on which direction the town should take. I hope we can at least agree on what’s best for the future of the community and move forward together.”Selectman Stephen Horlick said he was worried about some of the town’s smaller departments, such as the Senior Center and the Youth and Recreation Department, both which rely largely on grants to exist and both of which took fiscal hits in 2008. But Horlick said he wasn’t going to get too worked up until he saw the final figures on what the exact state cuts would be.”We’ve run into this before and maybe for a short period we will have to adjust, but until I see the numbers and see what the state aid will be, there’s not a lot we can do,” he said.Rossetti noted that Bisignani has been making some plans in light of the pending cuts, “but we’ll have to see to what level he’ll have to go,” he said. “Hopefully we’re not talking layoffs. That would not be good.”Bisignani said he is remaining positive.”We’ve made a lot of sacrifices over the last two years,” he said. “I think we’ll have to take a step backward but I’m optimistic that we’ll do what we have to do in order to recover.”