It's about time

This week, Mayor Bruce Chuluda and the administration finally released Westbrook’s proposed budget for next year.

Unlike previous years, Chuluda’s proposed budget contains no major changes like a consolidation of departments or a pay-per-bag trash program.

In fact, Chuluda said the budget looks to maintain programs and services while minimizing any increase in property taxes. Even with that, the proposed budget would still hike the property tax rate by close to $1.

What’s distressing is that it took longer than normal to get the budget to the City Council for review, limiting the time the council can review the budget before the fiscal year ends June 30.

That’s not fair to the council and ultimately, not fair to the residents of the city. The administration should have released the budget to the council sooner to allow councilors to have enough time to deliberate on the budget and also for members of the public to weigh in on how their money is being spent.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the city released the budget later than normal because the administration was having a difficult time keeping spending increases to within the 4 percent target Chuluda identified.

However, in his budget message, Chuluda said he met with Bryant, School Superintendent Stan Sawyer, School Committee Chair Colleen Hilton and City Council President Brendan Rielly in January to tell them he wanted to keep spending capped at a 4 percent increase.

Putting together a large budget is certainly a major undertaking, but it seems as though the administration could have put together a budget earlier than it did. It’s not as if this budget came as a surprise. One has to be done every year, otherwise there’s no money to run the city.

In fact, once the election was over in November and Chuluda was assured another term as mayor, work on the next budget should have begun in earnest.

The fact that the budget was released so late also runs contrary to a statement Chuluda made when he was elected to his first term. He said while he was on the council, he was frustrated at how late previous administrations would deliver the budget and he vowed to get his administration’s budgets out earlier.

During his first term, Chuluda seemed to make an effort to get the budget out as early as possible. Last year, for example, the budget was released to the council on April 11, over two weeks earlier than this year’s budget.

Hopefully, this year will prove the exception to the rule, and next year’s budget will be out in a more timely fashion.

Looking at the numbers

This year’s Westbrook budget will be a tougher one for residents to swallow than last year’s budget that actually lowered the tax rate by 66 cents.

The new budget, as it currently stands, takes back that entire tax cut, and adds 26 cents on top of that, for a total tax rate increase of 92 cents.

A good deal of that increase comes from areas where the city had little control. Health insurance costs, contracted salary increases and sharply escalating fuel prices are having a major effect on the budget and driving spending up.

Also, the $180,000 included for a citywide property revaluation is a good idea. Westbrook is long overdue for a revaluation, and while increasing the value of property in the city will certainly lead to higher taxes for some, it will also spread the tax burden out more evenly.

What’s most important is that residents get involved in the City Council’s budget discussions. The council’s Finance Committee has scheduled four budget meetings, on Saturday, May 6, from 8 a.m. to noon and May 8, 9 and 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. All of those meetings will be in room 114 of Westbrook High School and also televised on cable Channel 3.

In the last two years, many of the budget meetings were sparsely attended, sometimes with only one member of the public in the audience and asking questions of the councilors.

It’s important for residents to take part in the upcoming budget discussions. We urge as many residents as possible to pick up a copy of the budget, attend the meetings and ask questions.

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