2009 Annual Report.pdf - Town of Milton

supplies and maintenance. There will be decreases in funding for student activities
and increased student user fees. Certain non-core education courses
could be eliminated.
b. Public Safety
The Police budget is $96,000 below FY09 funding; Fire is $71,000 below
FY09 funding. Again asking departments to absorb pay increases in their budgets
effectively puts the departments even further behind FY09 funding.
The Police department would forgo replacement of vehicles and other
needed equipment. In addition there would be a loss of 6 traffic supervisors, 5
patrol officers and 2 emergency 911 operators. Police presence on the streets
would be reduced. Police deployment would be altered and become less effective.
Response time would increase and there would be a lack of man power to
investigate large cases.
The Fire Department would be forced to close one fire station. Staffing
would be reduced from 55 firemen to 50 firemen. Response times would increase.
The Town’s ability to participate in the mutual aid program would be
compromised. Funding for equipment and building repairs that are already underfunded
would be all but eliminated.
a. Other Departments
All departments are significantly underfunded. Smaller departments would
be required to reduce staff hours. At Town Hall some positions may be eliminated
with cross training of staff to cover more areas of responsibility. The library
would be forced to close the East Milton branch library. There would be
staff reductions. Library hours of operation would be cut back to the level required
for State certification. Maintenance and general expense budget line
items would be cut. Parks would reduce building and ground maintenance, cut
the special needs program and look to increase activity and program fees.
2. Contingent Budget
The contingent budget is still not a level service budget but it would restore
a significant amount of services. The School Department would not be forced
to close an elementary school. Some staff reductions would be necessary and
class sizes in certain instances may increase but not to the point that it would
severely impact the learning environment. The Police and Fire Departments
should be able to operate at a level of service equal to that of FY09. Some funding
would be available for vehicles and equipment. DPW while still significantly
underfunded would receive a significant increase in funding for vehicle
maintenance and funds to add back some staffing positions. All other departments
would operate at or near their FY09 levels.
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