Marblehead delays state of town meeting until January

MARBLEHEAD-It?s a sign of the economic times.Town Administrator Tony Sasso has delayed his annual state of the town meeting until January.The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 6 p.m. in the selectmen?s meeting room at Abbot Hall. The meeting is open to the public but attendance in the past has been mostly town officials, town administrators and the press.In past years, Sasso and Finance Director John McGinn have held their reviews of town finances and their total budget amounts for the next fiscal year in December.Sasso said they held off this year in hopes of obtaining more solid information about state aid.As usual, however, he declined to make any predictions. “I think the meeting will speak for itself,” he said Wednesday.Some things can be predicted: the town is likely to be running in the black, and town officials will be at least extremely cautious about seeking a general override.Last year?s meeting assumed a $59.7 million budget in Fiscal 2010, and another $72 million in capital debt. Sasso and McGinn were predicting a 15 percent drop in state aid, a 10 percent increase in building permit fees, auto excise tax and other local receipts and a 1 percent pay hike for all town and school employees – $222,108 was included in this year?s tentative budget proposal to fund new contracts, since all town contracts expired June 30. Sasso noted that a 1 percent raise for all employees costs $360,000 a year.On the positive side, the town was in the process of certifying $4 million in free cash, $1 million higher than Fiscal 2009. An estimated $800,000 of that increase was due to the reduction in Marblehead enrollment at the charter school.