2009 Annual Report.pdf - Town of Milton

equest but ultimately rejected it. The only wage concession made as of this
writing is by the Town Clerk who has agreed to forgo his recommended 1%
wage increase for FY10. The Warrant Committee thanks the Town Clerk for his
generous offer.
C. The State of the Town’s Finances
The Nation is experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Milton is feeling the impact of this recession. We saw our local aid from the
State cut by $390,000, local receipts are lagging behind FY08 levels and we anticipate
local aid to be cut in FY10 by amounts exceeding $1 million. Interest
rates have decreased causing interest income on invested funds to drop. The
Town’s retirement system investments have been significantly affected by the
economic downturn. While those investments have outperformed the stock market
the fund has experienced significant losses. It is anticipated that these losses
will affect the schedule for fully funding the Town’s pension system. The System
was on a track to be fully funded by FY2016. The losses that have been incurred
may require funding beyond FY2016 to fully fund the System. The Town
maintains a perpetual care trust fund for the Cemetery. These funds have also
felt the impact of the recession and will result in less revenue available for support
of the Cemetery for FY10.
Utility costs and vehicle fuel continued to place strain on the departmental
budgets for FY09. The Town entered into a contract in August 2008 at a price
of almost $4 per gallon. At the time the contract was negotiated the rate was
below the current market rate. In late 2008 due in part to the recession the price
of fuel plummeted. However, the Town was locked into the higher contract
price. The Town has been in discussions with the contractor in an attempt to reduce
the rate. In the mean time a new contract for fuel that will be effective in
August 2009 will provide vehicle fuel to the Town at a rate of approximately
$1.90 per gallon.
Other utility costs continue to rise. The Town has been proactive in looking
for alternatives to reduce the cost of utilities. Permission was given to the
School Department in February to explore consulting contracts for utility conservation.
An article in this Warrant requests permission for the construction of
two wind turbines on Town owed property. If approved and constructed the turbines
could return revenue to the Town that would equal the total electric costs
for all Town and School owned buildings.
Coupled with the deteriorating economy the Town has experienced one of
the heaviest snow fall seasons in several years. The Town has a snow and ice
budget of $128,000. The cost of plowing and removing snow and treating ice
is expected to aggregate over $700,000 resulting in a snow and ice deficit for
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