North Country Towns are Strapped Too

By Todd Wellington on Monday, February 20, 2006.

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Town Meeting Day is just a few weeks away.

Residents across the state will be deciding the big issues facing their towns.

And once again, many North Country communities are struggling to make ends meet.

NHPR correspondent Todd Wellington has more.

LITTLETON TOWN MANAGER JASON HOCH WAS LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS AND IT DIDN'T LOOK GOOD.

NEXT YEARâ€™S PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET IS UP NEARLY TEN-PERCENT FROM 2005.

EVEN IN AN ERA OF ESCALATING TOWN BUDGETS, TEN-PERCENT IS A BIG JUMPâ€¦

AND THEN THE SITUATION GOT WORSE.

TAX PAYERS AT THE TOWNâ€™S DELIBERATIVE SESSION VOTED TO CUT 315-THOUSAND-DOLLARS FROM THE SPENDING PLAN LEAVING HOCH WITH FEW GOOD OPTIONS.

CUT- CUT-HOCH)_maybe I don't buy some additional asphalt to do pavement maintenance, maybe we try to figure out how to use less salt, lengthen our plow routes, may not get out as frequently for winter maintenance, and then it probably means cutting staff.

CUTTING STAFFâ€¦ OMINOUS WORDS FOR LITTLETONâ€™S 50 PUBLIC EMPLOYEES.

AND SOMEWHAT UNEXPECTED IN A TOWN WITH A REPUTATION FOR FISCAL RESTRAINT AND AN ONGOING ECONOMIC BOOM.

BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS EVEN A TOWN MANAGER CANâ€™T CONTROL.

THINGS LIKE FUEL COSTS.

LAST YEARâ€™S SPIKE IN OIL PRICES TRICKLED DOWN INTO A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE COST OF KEEPING LITTLETONâ€™S POLICE CRUISERS ON THE ROAD AND ITS PUBLIC BUILDINGS HEATED.

BUT THE BIGGEST BUDGET-BUSTER SAYS HOCH, HAS BEEN THE COST OF PEOPLE.

CUT- our operations are very people intensive. And the cost of having people are growing at a faster pace than the rate of inflation. So things like health care our contributions to the NH retirement system. and what we've seen has been that we've been cutting back on some of the other areas and we've done it consistently year after year, cutting back on materials, cutting back on maintenance, repair, and number of things to try to absorb that increase we're seeing in benefit costs.

DOWN THE ROAD IN THE TOWN OF LISBON â€“ TOWN ADMINISTRATOR GUY SCAIFE IS LOOKING AT A LESS BLEAK GROUP OF NUMBERS.

HOWEVER, THE NEWS IS STILL NOT THE BEST.

THE TOWN BUDGET IS UP FROM A YEAR AGO â€“ OVER SIX PERCENT.

ASKED TO NAME THE KEY FACTORS DRIVING THE INCREASE SCAIFE PROVIDES A FAMILIER LIST.

CUT- there's no one item. Most things are up. our insurance co health and dental insurance is up 7%, We have had a significant increases in operational expenses such as the cost of fuel oil, propane, electricity and those type items that it takes to run public works department and our various facilities.

80 MILES NORTH â€“ NEAR THE CANDIAN BORDER - IS THE TOWN OF PITTSBURGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

PITTSBURG DOESNâ€™T HAVE A TOWN MANAGER OR ADMINISTRATOR.

BUT IT DOES HAVE JAMES SHALLOW.

HEâ€™S A TOWN SELECTMAN AND PRINCIPAL OF THE LOCAL SCHOOL.

HE SEES CHALLENGING NUMBERS IN BOTH JOBS - BUT ALSO SOME CREATIVE WAYS OF DEALING WITH THEM.

FOR EXAMPLE THE TOWN BUDGET BY ITSELF IS NOT OUT-OF-LINE.

BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF GOOD REASONS WHY.

ONE - THE PROPOSED BIG-TICKET PURCHASE OF A NEW GRADER FOR THE TOWN HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT WILL BE DECIDED BY SPECIAL WARRANT ARTICLE â€“ SEPARATE FROM THE MAIN BUDGET.

SHALLOW SAYS USING SPERATE ARTICLES FOR BIG PURCHASES PUTS THE HARD FINANICAL DECISIONS â€“ AND THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT GOES WITH THEM - DIRECTLY IN THE HANDS OF THE TOWNâ€™S 800 VOTERS.

CUT- â€¦.. So if they don't want to buy a grader they don't have to buy a grader, but they need to understand that the services of the town and the highway department are going to decline because they don't want to pay the money for the grader.

ANOTHER BUDGET FACTOR IN PITTSBURG IS THE 8.8 PERCENT INCREASE IN ITS EMPLOYEE HEALTH CARE COSTS.

SAYING IT COULD NOT AFFORD TO SPEND ANY MORE â€“ THE TOWN SIMPLY PASSED THE ENTIRE INCREASE ONTO ITS FIVE-EMPLOYEES.

BUT NOT EVERY BUDGET DECISION IS SO EASY TO SOLVE.

IN THE PITTSBURG SCHOOL BUDGET FACES A WHOPPING 26.3% INCREASE FOR EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE..

AND SINCE THE CURRENT TEACHER CONTRACT FIXES WHAT EMPLOYEES HAVE TO PAY FOR INSURANCE, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IS ABSORBING THE INCREASE.

THAT LED TO A PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET INCREASE OF 150-THOUSAND-DOLLARS.

ITâ€™S A BUDGET THAT WILL TRANSLATE INTO A LOCAL TAX RATE INCREASE OF .84 CENTS.

TOWN MEETINGS ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY TAKE PLACE THE 2nd WEEK OF MARCH.

FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, Iâ€™M TODD WELLINGTON