WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Amid concerns over financial difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hartford officials are looking at ways to reduce next year’s town budget, department by department, without laying off municipal employees.
The first draft of a proposed fiscal year 2022 budget, which begins in July, was introduced at a Selectboard meeting late last month. It would keep general fund spending at $17.6 million next year, which is almost the same amount as the current year’s level. That contrasts to the more than $500,000 increase in general fund spending between FY 2020 and the current fiscal year.
In his memo ahead of the meeting last month, then-Interim Town Manager Patrick MacQueen also suggested saving on costs by not adding any “additional initiatives” to next year’s budget except for hiring an assistant finance director and providing $75,000 for the town’s Committee on Homelessness.
In addition to keeping the general fund relatively flat, town officials have asked each department to prepare three budgets: one with no increase from the previous year, and others that are reduced by 5% and 10%.
The effort to cut the budget, or keep it at the same level, is unusual for Hartford. Generally, the town sees budget increases of one to three percentage points each fiscal year, and rarely sees reduced budgets, Board Chair Dan Fraser wrote in an email Friday.
“We are planning for the worst and hoping for the best. The good news is that the town staff is experienced and creative,” Fraser wrote.
The board started hearing budget proposals Thursday night, beginning with a presentation by the Department of Public Works. The remaining departments’ presentations are expected to continue through November and into mid-December.
Once the presentations are finished board members will ask the finance director and town manager for guidance on various departments’ budgets.
Town officials will try to find “the best path forward to continue to provide the current level of services, if at all possible, while still taking into consideration the impact COVID has had on so many household budgets in town,” Fraser wrote.
One of the board’s primary concerns when planning the next fiscal year was maintaining town staff and reducing the risk of layoffs by not immediately filling empty positions, Fraser wrote.
“We need them all and we appreciate them all. We do not want to let anyone go, unless that is the last resort,” he wrote. But he added that the town still has to be realistic. “If the money isn’t there, we can’t spend it.”
Though officials are bracing for a fallout from the pandemic down the road, the town has already started taking a financial hit.
Fraser said Hartford has had to spend more on extra cleanings since the COVID-19 outbreak in March. It has also lost revenue that would normally come from events and venues, many of which faced cancellations because of the statewide ban on large gatherings that was in place most of the summer.
Hartford is also dealing with a problem facing towns around the Upper Valley: The revenue from tax payments has been slow to come in, largely because Hartford residents are struggling financially from the pandemic.
“This has caused some not to be able to pay their taxes, and some that usually pay the entire year have only paid the first installment,” Fraser wrote.
The question of how COVID-19 will affect projects and finances in the town is one Hartford officials have been grappling with a lot in recent months.
In October, the board held several discussions regarding whether to bring an already approved $3.3 million bond community pool bond back in front of voters at Town Meeting in March. Board members and community members who supported the idea cited the pandemic and the financial toll it will take on the town as a reason to let voters reconsider the bond.
In a split decision last month, the board agreed to bring the bond up for another vote, but they plan to discuss the issue again at a meeting Nov. 17.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.