Untitled - Town of Windham

TOWN ADMINISTRATORAs was the case for the past three years, both the management staff and Board of Selectmen removed thefunds needed for the management incentive program and Selectmen salaries respectively, totaling in excess of$18,000.Unfortunately, in terms of union negotiations, we remain at impasse with both the Fire and Police Unions onnew contracts, but we will continue to negotiate towards a satisfactory resolution. It is our hope that we willbe prepared to present new contracts to the 2014 Town Meeting for consideration.Operations: This year’s operating costs reflect a net increase of $356,973.72 over four areas: $29,510 morein benefit related expenses; $233,263.72 in our annual Capital Improvement allocation; $75,000 in a specialarticle by the Board; and a total of $19,200 more across all other operational areas.Benefit increases are due almost exclusively to increases in State Retirement costs – up $78,955 from 2012 –attributable to increases in the retirement rates effective July 1, 2013. In terms of specifics, the retirementrate to be paid by the Town increased 26.82% for police (19.95% of payroll to 25.30%); 21.19% for fire(22.89% to 27.74%); and 22.39% for all other employees (8.80% to 10.77%). This equates to $33,600;$37,570; and $20,400 in increases for police, fire, and other employees, respectively. An additional $6,440is attributable to the retirement contributions associated with the 2.5% wage adjustment to non-unionemployees.We are also proposing that $30,000 be added to our Earned Time Trust fund, established in 1995 as amechanism to save, over time, the costs needed to fund our employees unused leave benefits at the time theyleave the employ of the town. Annual appropriations to this Trust were requested over many of the yearssince it was established, however the Board has not submitted a request for funding since 2009. Currently,the Trust has a balance of approximately $159,000 while our total liability for all employees is over$960,000. We believe reestablishing a level funded appropriation will best serve the town to ensure that weare able to cover our liabilities in the future.Health insurance rates increased an average of 8% across all plans offered by the Town, however thisincrease will be absorbed by either additional employee contributions or by using some of the accumulatedfunds in our health insurance trust account. In fact, the net overall budget for health insurance is actually$26,000 less than last year.Finally, the overall net increase of $19,200 in our general operations is spread across all departments, someof which include: $27,190, the first of three annual lease payments to purchase two (2) new Lifepak 15Defibrillators for the Fire department to replace the existing, 15+ year old equipment; addition of $20,000 tothe Property Maintenance Trust, normally funded at $30,000 annually; $13,000 to allow the Town Clerk topurchase new software to increase auto registration efficiency and reduce the amount of hardware required;$9,000 more in our Maintenance budget to provide additional trimmings and weed control applicationsassociated with maintaining the Route 111 bypass medians; and $7,600 in added costs due to rate increasesfor our Liability Insurance. These and other smaller increases are partially offset by savings in our WorkersCompensation insurance of $44,610 resulting from a return of unused contributions from past years, as wellas $10,350 less in Waste Removal cost based on a new five (5) year contract entered into in 2012.Capital Projects: Within the town’s recommended portion of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) we areproposing six (6) individual projects. Combined, the dollars needed to fund these projects has increased$233,263.72 from what was allocated in our 2012 CIP.• $300,000 for road improvements – this is the annual allocation for both complete and partialreconstructions of town roadways based on a prioritized plan submitted by the Highway Agent. Therecommended budget reflects a decrease of $30,000 from last year, and is the normal appropriationfunded over the past several years prior to 2012. Several projects are being considered for 2013,however the final determination of which is to be done will be made in the spring.2012 ANNUAL REPORTS 40 TOWN OF WINDHAM, NH