SWAMPSCOTT — The town administrator proposed a $78.97-million budget for fiscal year 2023, sticking to a 2-percent increase for the base tax levy, at a joint meeting between the Select Board and the Finance Committee on Wednesday.
“Now the process begins formally,” said Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald. “It really kicks off several months worth of discussion about our priorities.”
The town administrator’s recommended budget limits departmental spending to an increase of 2.66 percent, which brings the town’s general fund to $66.12 million.
It is also based on no more than a 2-percent increase to the base tax levy, plus an additional $425,000 representing new growth, which is consistent with the financial discipline guidelines adopted by the Select Board and Finance Committee. In FY22, the single-family tax bill was $9,128 with the residential tax rate amounting to $12.83 and commercial tax rate equaling $23.20 per $1,000.
Public education constitutes the biggest item of the budget, at 39 percent. The town administrator proposed a $30.12-million education budget, which is 2.53-percent higher than FY22.
“This is not the budget that was approved by the School Committee,” Fitzgerald said. “It reflects the guidance of the board and I shared it with the superintendent.”
The town administrator’s school budget is $103,000 less than the superintendent proposed, but it is $2.18 million lower than the number the School Committee approved. Fitzgerald said that his administration believes in education, but they have to make some tough decisions.
“We are in a position right now to think critically about where we draw from before we shift each cost to taxpayers,” Fitzgerald said.
The town administration also budgeted a 20-percent contribution from the school district to employee health insurance. The healthcare costs are expected to grow by 9 percent, Fitzgerald said, and 80 percent of the costs in the town budget for health care are related to school employees.
Commenting on the school budget and school-employee expenses, Peter Spellios, a member of the Select Board, acknowledged that he understands where the School Committee was coming from with its proposed budget.
“There are no winners or losers here,” said Spellios. “The town can’t continue to starve on the town side because the needs are growing on the town side as well.”
Fitzgerald said that the general fund is under pressure from increased labor costs, and increased prices on goods and supplies, which is a global tendency.
Other key town expenditures besides education include general government (26 percent of the proposed budget), enterprise funds (17 percent), public safety (12 percent), public services (5 percent), human services (2 percent) and community development (1 percent).
Administration and finance costs, mainly driven by expected and known retirements, are higher in FY23 by 7.17 percent compared to FY22, and amount to $3.19 million.
Community and Economic Development expenses are projected at $734,800 and will be 2-percent lower as the Health Department goes to pre-pandemic nurse staffing levels, although some additional hours for a Land Use Board coordinator were accounted for in the FY23 budget.
Public Services will cost $3.39 million, or 4.41 percent less than FY22, due to the sharing of five positions within the Facilities Department with the schools, as well as due to some adjustments in the landscaping work and sidewalk-repair costs.
Enterprise funds are planned to increase by more than 25 percent over FY22, or $1.98 million, and amount to $9.84 million, as the town is adding a new Solid Waste Enterprise fund of $1.52 million. The town is hoping that the Enterprise Fund revenue increase in the Water and Sewer funds will offset the remaining increase in expenses.
Public safety will cost the town $7.75 million, or 2.6 percent less than FY22. The reduction will come from better control of overtime. Both the Fire and Police departments, which left civil service in FY22, will hire a few new employees to fill six vacancies.
Human services expenses are forecasted to amount to $1.15 million, an increase of 1.7 percent compared to FY22. A return to full programming at the Senior Center, new proposed programs at the Public Library and staff development explain the increase.
Capital budget improvements are planned at $4.9 million and include repairs of the seawalls, renovations and improvements to the schools, street-sweeper replacement, pavement of streets and investment into water and sewer infrastructure.
The revenue side of the town budget consists of net local aid from the state and local receipts in addition to property taxes. Net local aid is expected to decrease by 0.34 percent compared to FY22 and is projected at $6.43 million.
Local receipts are forecasted to amount to $4.47 million, which is 1.89 percent more than FY22.
Fitzgerald said that he asked all of the departments to look at every expense line very carefully, but the growth of prices, inflation, and erosion of the commercial tax base in Swampscott continue to cause challenges.
“We just simply cannot cut our way out of the problem,” said Fitzgerald. “At this point we’ve got to really focus on that growth.”
He said that he was pleased that the Select Board is going to conduct the Land Use Summit as the town needs to think about the value of the land and approach the commercial development creatively.
“It is going to take some hard conversations, and we are going to think about budget priorities as we look forward,” said Fitzgerald.
