Dipping into surpluses
Town given two deficit options
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

The Town of Amherst comptroller's office is suggesting taking money from two surplus funds to reduce the deficit from $4 million to $1.5 million. That also includes a possible savings from other budget line numbers.

Darlene Carroll, of the comptroller's office, said the town could use $288,000 from the part-town surplus and $140,000 from the sewer surplus to help reduce the budget. The part-town surplus includes money from the building and planning departments.

By using the surpluses, the percentage of available spending would be reduced to 12.5 percent from 19.1 percent in part-town and to 14.4 percent from 15 percent in sewer.

Carroll said bringing the percents down that much would still be adequate, but the Town of Amherst needs to identify savings for approximately 1 percent of the total 2006 budget.

"We have continued to work on the budget and found some big offsets and some more shortfalls," Carroll said.

The comptroller's office identified a possible savings of $1 million in principal and interest payments; $11,000 in sludge removal and $600,000 in interest. However, those numbers are subject to change during the final months of 2006.

With these offsets, and borrowing from the two surpluses, the town could reduce its budget deficit to $1.5 million.

But additional shortfalls are being identified in permit fees: $31,000 in zoning, $240,000 in building and $531,926 in gas and oil costs.

Supervisor Satish Mohan said borrowing from the surpluses was not the solution he was looking for.

"Those funds were available since Jan. 1; what we have to do is try and cut expenses," he said. "There are no solid, long term solutions."

He said when reviewing the current budget status, the $4 million deficit can't be compared to the $1.5 million deficit because the numbers will continue to change, and using the reserves is only a suggestion.

David Hanley, of the firm Freed, Maxick and Battaglia, who served the past few months as interim comptroller, said department heads need to come forward and volunteer cost-saving ideas.

Board Member Shelly Schratz also is pushing for long-term plans and cost-saving ideas.

"The Town of Amherst can't continue to do things the way they are being done," she said. "We are spending more than we are taking in, and it is going to end up on the backs of the taxpayers."

She estimates $1 million is spent in surpluses each year, adding that the issue of overspending needs to be addressed.

Carroll said without any other option, the suggestion of using the two surpluses would go into effect by default at the end of the year.