Barre Finance Committee Confronts $167,000 Budget Deficit Ahead of Town Meeting

BARRE -- May 10, 2017, Barre's Finance Committee is $167,000 short of a balanced FY18 budget with Town Meeting approaching. Chair Zachary Macutkiewicz led a line-by-line review May 10, plugging in a 4 percent placeholder for the Quabbin Regional School District assessment, below the district's proposed 5.13 percent, and noting "we still can't afford it, but I think 4 percent is a good starting place." Barre's Monty Tech assessment is proposed to rise by approximately $52,000, driven by five additional foundation-enrollment pupils and a higher net school spending requirement. The police budget, the sewer enterprise fund's continued draw on general revenues, and a $50,000 tax lien question held for fall Town Meeting all surfaced as unresolved pressure points. With approximately $150,000 in estimated free cash already factored in, the committee still showed a deficit of $167,082 and acknowledged a Proposition 2½ override remains a possibility if revenue estimates and departmental negotiations do not improve the picture.