BCAT News

Burlington’s Annual May Town Meeting begins on Monday, May 10 and there are a lot of things to cover in during this mostly virtual event.

The biggest thing Town Meeting members will have to consider is the FY22 Operating Budget. The proposed budget is $152,291,800 made up from $39,821,044 from the town, $57,137,111 from the schools and $55,333,645 for Accommodated Accounts.

In a report to Town Meeting, the Ways & Means Committee explained that this year’s budget process, like last year’s, has been impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While there are visible signs that progress is being made in the fight against the global pandemic, there is still a long way to go before we understand the full impact the pandemic will have on the Town’s finances,” they wrote. “Town Meeting reduced the FY2021 budget by $2.1 million due to the sharp downturn in local receipts (meals/hotel taxes) and building permits during the first three months of the pandemic. The impact on the commercial sector and property valuation remains unclear as the commercial market continues to struggle.”

They point to companies having employees work from home as another factor for a drop in meals and hotel tax income. They also state that if companies shift to permanently working from home that could mean offices could either shrink or close which could lead to a decrease in property tax income in the long term.

However, Ways & Means states that town financial leaders, department heads and school officials have worked to stay within tighter than normal budget guidelines. The goal, which they met, was a blended increase of 3.25 percent with the town government increasing by 3 percent and the School Department budget increasing by 3.5 percent.

Though a slightly lower increase in the operating budget than normal, Ways & Means says in their report that it is sufficient to maintain services residents are used to receiving.

“For this fiscal year, the Committee believes the proposed FY2022 budget provides the same level of services that Burlington residents have come to expect and is within the budget guidelines,” they wrote. “The committee is confident that the town has an effective plan for monitoring the impacts of the pandemic moving forward.”

There are also a number of proposed capital projects Town Meeting will vote on.

Some of the big ticket items from the town include $399,999 to replace a pick up truck, and two dump trucks for the DPW, $200,000 for stream cleaning and $100,000 for a pump station force main design.

There is also $350,000 to replace the roof of the Burlington Public Library. Town Meeting passed $220,000 in 2019 for this project but the project was delayed until rooftop HVAC units were installed. In the intervening time, the plans have expanded because it was noted that new insulation and possibly a new skylight were needed. In total the project is estimated to cost $570,000 and the proposed $350,000 will be added to what was passed in 2019.