Windsor budget process starts with meeting, survey

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WINDSOR, Vt.  — The town budget drafting process for fiscal year 2020 got underway Tuesday evening with a joint meeting of the select board and the budget committee.

Town Manager Tom Marsh noted that as in past years, the town is soliciting resident information through a survey. Hard copies are available at the municipal building, but Marsh is encouraging Windsor residents to fill out the online version, available atwww.surveymonkey.com/r/9KSNHBC 

Only 35 people had filled out the survey as of Tuesday evening, when Marsh sent out a notice by email shortly before the meeting. The survey asks residents their opinion about property taxes, and what purposes they might be willing to pay more taxes for, among other things.

The survey will be open until Dec. 21, Marsh said.

“I wish more people would fill out the survey,” said Tom Frisbee, a member of the budget committee.

Town departments are either preparing or have already submitted their budget requests for the year ahead, and the compilation of those should be ready for the budget committee after the new year, Marsh said.

The panel engaged in a discussion about the budget, centering on the inevitable fact that the  town cannot afford to pay for what everybody might want. Competing priorities would need to dealt with by everyone involved, all agreed.

Marsh noted that probably the single largest department in the budget was the police department, and it reflects changes in the past few years since Bill Sampson became chief of police. Some existing officers at that time “did not meet his standard,” Marsh said. 

However, “in the last couple of years there has been a shift” and as new officers have come on board and been trained, they have increasingly been lured away by other police agencies. “The market for certified officers is very tight,” he said.

In general, personnel or labor is the major cost area for the town, along with debt service, Marsh said. However, he also said the town was getting good value from its labor. 

“I can’t say enough about the quality of the people we have here,” Marsh said. 

Select board member Jeff White commented that some residents would prefer no tax increase at all, but that given increased costs in some areas, that wasn’t practical. Some persons, particular outside of Windsor, have an incorrect perception that the town is highly taxed relative to other communities.

Marsh spoke to that point, saying that in his research property taxes were roughly equivalent to Springfield’s for a town its size.

The budget committee makes recommendations to the select board, which votes on the final budget that goes to town meeting. But Marsh stressed that the process would be “collaborative,” with the budget committee and departments having a voice, as well as taxpayers through the survey and ultimately at town meeting.