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After holding off for two weeks on approving a series of midyear budget cuts proposed by Town Supervisor Linda Kabot, the Southampton Town Board enacted the cost-saving measures on Tuesday, trimming about $1 million in spending off the 2009 budget.
In addition to the direct cuts, the board also made some bookkeeping moves, eliminating another $1 million in general fund expenses by shifting Highway Department administrative costs to the separate highway fund and moving stormwater management to the capital program. Despite the board’s action, another $1 million in spending cuts will be needed, Ms. Kabot said, in order to balance the current budget and move into the budget process for 2010.
Meanwhile, Town Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst, one of Ms. Kabot’s rivals in the supervisor race this year, is preparing to introduce her own proposed set of budget cuts and has asked the town comptroller’s office and the Department of General Services to advise her on the viability of her proposals. She plans to outline her initiatives at a Town Board work session in a couple of weeks.
Ms. Kabot, who argued that the first round of budget cuts should have been adopted when first proposed two weeks ago, said more needs to done. “This is one small step in the right direction,” she said.
Tuesday’s cuts include the elimination of a senior kennel attendant at the animal shelter, a messenger in the town clerk’s office, and an environmental analyst and a principal planner in the Land Management Department, all currently vacant positions. Because some of those positions had been filled at various times during the year and some portion of the salaries were already paid out, the total savings will amount to $117,650, Ms. Kabot said.
The balance of the estimated $1 million in cuts came primarily from reducing the town’s allocation for payment of overtime to union employees. Ms. Kabot said the employees will be compensated for overtime hours with time off rather than additional pay, a move the supervisor said she can make under terms of the union contract. The board also curtailed some travel expenses, limiting seminars and training for town officials, and reducing office supply costs.
But Ms. Throne-Holst, who said the town is making progress in trimming the budget, argued that more sustainable cuts are needed to take the town beyond 2010. “I have had several conversations with numerous department heads and have discussed many areas of potential cost savings and revenue generating ideas,” she said.
The councilwoman has asked the comptroller and the General Services Department for an analysis of the 2009 hiring freeze to determine the potential cost savings of continuing that freeze into next year. She also requested an evaluation of the town’s part-time workforce of 125 employees, which, she said, represents more than $1 million in costs; a list of all employees eligible for retirement with full benefits, in order to weigh those costs with potential incentives for early retirement; a full review of the costs and usage of the town’s 60-plus vehicles; an assessment of payouts and holiday compensation for the Police Department; and a cost-benefit analysis of increased fines for cars seized from unlicensed drivers and fines levied on entertainment establishments deemed as repeat nuisances.
The councilwoman also wants the tax assessor’s office to look into the revenue potential of selling technological services through partnerships with other towns—for instance, teaming up with East Hampton to provide them with the town’s aerial photography and other geographical systems information capabilities.
Ms. Throne-Holst said she would also like the town to rely less on outside consultants, both in planning and legal services, and wants a comparison of using in-house staff to professionals brought in from private industry.
Two weeks ago, when the supervisor’s proposed cuts came up for a vote, Town Board members asked for another two weeks in order to get a more accurate picture of the town’s finances from Town Comptroller Tamara Wright. Ms. Throne-Holst and Councilwoman Sally Pope, who both pushed for delaying the cuts, said Tuesday they were more comfortable voting in favor of the cuts this week because the extra time gave Ms. Wright the opportunity to ensure the board that the cuts were sustainable.
“I appreciate the extra time,” Ms. Pope said. “It gave me the opportunity to consult with the various department heads and include more employees in the process.”
The cuts were needed, Ms. Kabot said, due to an unexpected decline in mortgage tax revenue, which has resulted in a $2 million budget shortfall. When she began crafting her 2009 budget, Ms. Kabot projected $7.5 million in mortgage taxes—a 30-percent decline from the $12 million generated in the past few years. But in the last six months, only $2.5 million in mortgage taxes has been collected, and now town officials forecast only another $3 million to round out the year. If that trend holds, then the town will have collected only $5.5 million in mortgage taxes for 2009, $2 million less than originally budgeted.
Brian Bossetta on Jul 15, 2009