Rutland Town Meeting on May 9th
The Town is bringing forward a multi-year override to address ongoing budget constraints in an effort to maintain essential municipal and school services. At the Annual Town Meeting, voters will be asked to consider approving a $3.0M override that would allow the Town to maintain the current level of services. The override does not allow for anything over and above what was budgeted for this fiscal year. The increases reflect contractual obligations, inflation and increased school assessments.
At the ballot, residents will be asked to vote on the $3.0M override that will be presented at the Annual Town Meeting. The ballot will also include override amounts for FY2028 and FY2029, which if approved, can ONLY be spent within those specific fiscal years. That means that the Town cannot appropriate funds from the third year to be used in year one or year two. This also means that residents will be assessed incrementally over the next 3 years, which will help to ease the financial burden to our taxpayers.
How Will A Cut Affect The Dept. of Public Works?
The Dept. of Public Works is facing a $210,423 cut from their highway operations. These cuts will result in a reduction of the staff who perform the work that residents value each day.
Reduction in road maintenance & repairs Reduced availability for administrative assistance & permit reviews Decreased maintenance of the Town Common, public areas and athletic fields Slower response to water & sewer issues and emergencies Reduced capacity for storm response (i.e. plowing & sanding) and maintenance of current infrastructure
How Will a 25% Cut Affect the Rutland Library?
With more than 3,000 visitors each month, the Library is a hub of the community. The proposed cuts will reduce hours and the ability for residents to take advantage of the Library's many offerings.
Reduced Hours for staffing and hours open to the publicReduced or eliminated use of inter-library loan serviceLoss of state certification, which reduces our ability to obtain grant funding that is critical to Library offeringsReduced availability of meeting space for Town boards, committees and community organizationsReduced program offerings due to fewer hours for staff
The proposed cuts will impact all of our departments and the Library is certainly no exception. The override would allow the Town to continue offering the level of services you are used to receiving, with no extras over and above.
How Will a 25% Cut Affect the Fire Department & Ambulance Service?
The Fire Department is facing a nearly $460,000 cut, with 90% of those cuts to staff.
Lay off of 5 full-time firefighters/EMTs/ParamedicsA loss of 10,440 hours annually to respond to emergencies6,786 ambulance hours lost annually, reducing coverage and ambulance revenue3,654 fire engine hours lost annually
How Will These Cuts Impact Residents?
Ambulance will be frequently out of service due to lack of staffing (no longer able to provide 24/7 coverage)Significantly delayed response times to fires and medical emergenciesInability to respond to simultaneous callsInability to meet state and federal requirements, resulting in a lower ISO rating, which impacts rates for homeowner's
insurance
With neighboring communities facing similar financial struggles, our reliance on mutual aid cannot be guaranteed. In addition, we will be unable to reciprocate with mutual aid, which puts a further strain on area departments.
How Will A 22% Cut Affect Our Police Department?
The Department is facing a $450,000 budget cut, with 96% of those cuts coming from wages and overtime. Rutland is already under the per capita staffing ratio for communities with less than 10,000 residents (the average is 2.8 officers and Rutland is at 1.75
officers, before any cuts).
Lay off of 4 full-time police officers Lay off of 3 part-time police officers (which is all of them)Reduction in hours for Administrative AssistantLoss of approximately 8,000 hours of patrol coverageElimination of K-9 Program, School Resource Officer position & officer assignments (such as SWAT and accident re-construction)
How Will These Cuts Impact Residents?
1 officer on shift cannot safely provide service for 9,800 residents spanning 35+ square milesDelayed response times to calls, with increased probability of having no back-up for the officer(s) on dutyReduction in pro-active patrol and traffic enforcementDetective position will return to patrol, resulting in less time for investigations and attention to victimsInability to provide coverage for community events, including the 4th of July festivities
Our Police Chief has advised that the cuts present a direct threat to public safety and our officers. Our ability to retain personnel will be diminished and the eliminated positions will not be able to be restored. Our neighboring communities are facing similar
financial challenges, so we cannot rely on mutual aid - especially when we are unable to reciprocate.
How Will A 25% Cut Impact General Government?
What we call General Government is what you likely think of as the Town Hall offices. These include the Town Administrator, Town Clerk, Treasurer/Collector, etc. Should the override fail, certain positions will be eliminated and public access to staff will
be reduced to 16 hours per week.
Town Offices will only be open 2 days per week (16 hours)Two positions will be eliminated: Payroll/AP Assistant, Assistant Assessor Reduced Hours For: Executive Assistant to Town Administrator, Town Clerk, Assistant Town Clerk, Principal Assessor,
Assistant Treasurer/Collector, Building Inspector, Admin. Assistant to Inspectional Services & Board of Health, Town Planner
How Will This Impact Residents?
Longer processing time for building/electrical/plumbing permits & inspectionsIncreased wait time for vital records, public records requestsIncreased wait time for Board of Health permits & inspections (i.e. septic, well, food permits, etc.)Increased wait times for billing inquiries, abatement applications and general questionsReduction in financial adherence to best practices, resulting in a decreased bond rating and higher borrowing rates
Our Town Hall employees are the ones who keep our daily operations moving forward to ensure that our residents receive the services they need. Residents will lose access to staff that they have been accustomed to, and unfortunately, there will only be so much
that can be done during their reduced hours.
How Will A Cut Impact The Council on Aging?
The Director's hours will be reduced to 32 hours per weekThe Outreach Coordinator position will be eliminatedReduced level of services for our seniors & vulnerable population
Our Senior Center provides many services to our seniors, from coordination with Meals on Wheels to wellness programs and comradery. A cut in their budget will have a significant impact on those who benefit from these valuable services.
For more information, please visit: https://www.rutlandma.gov/855/Multi-Year-Override
Submitted by the Rutland town Administration
For more information, please visit: https://www.rutlandma.gov/855/Multi-Year-Override
Submitted by the Rutland town Administration
