Hawke’s budget lean, but balanced

Reason: level funding from commonwealth for fiscal ’09

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Mayor Mark Hawke proposed a lean but balanced budget Monday for fiscal 2009 in the amount of $53,210,341, however he said it proved to be difficult to balance because of level funding the state government is providing, despite increases in many line items. The budget shows increases of approximately $330,000 in state-required minimum net school spending, $175,000 in state and county charges, $75,000 in retirement costs and a $100,000 snow and ice removal deficit carried over from the winter, and the state is providing the city of Gardner level funding, which Mr. Hawke said is the primary reason the budget is so thin. “We are getting the exact same amount of money from the state, and that actually translates into a net decrease in funding,” said Mr. Hawke. Although the proposed fiscal ’09 budget is smaller than fiscal ’08’s budget, Mr. Hawke said the city’s ability to balance the books despite economic hardships encourages him, and believes the financial management review he scheduled will help with planning for the future. “Last year’s budget was heralded as a bare-bones budget, and this year we are actually cutting into the bone,” said Mr. Hawke. “However I remain optimistic; I think the fact that we were able to balance this year’s budget, coupled with the financial management review — those two things are going to allow us one fiscal year to realign and start a reorganization process and become more efficient in the way we do business.” The exact date for the financial management review has not yet been scheduled, but Mr. Hawke said that he has several ideas he wants to present at the meeting aimed toward streamlining operations within the city government. “I hope to work toward combining our treasurer and collector positions, I look to reorganize our financial goals, and all of this is going to be brought up at the financial management review meeting,” said Mr. Hawke. “I have a pretty good idea of what they are going to say about the operations here in Gardner.” City Auditor Calvin Brooks said he thought the level funding the state provided greatly affected the budget. “The state is providing level funding, and I think that we should be OK this year; the concern is going to be the fiscal 2010 budget,” said Mr. Brooks. Because the state is putting the majority of its extra funding into Lottery aid and supplemental general funds, he said, suggests that fiscal 2010’s budget will be significantly smaller than the proposed 2009 budget. Mr. Brooks said the city’s allocating of 41 percent of its budget toward the school system is commonplace among cities in the region. “As a general rule of thumb, most cities and towns of our size tend to split their budget down the middle between the schools and general government,” said Mr. Brooks. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 5/21/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 121)