Budget Time: Departments Getting Ready for Annual Town Meeting

As Canton approaches Annual Town Meeting, municipal departments and boards have been busy preparing budgets and crunching the numbers.

 On Tuesday’s meeting, several municipal department heads went before the board to request additional operating budget funds for their departments.  Canton Fire Chief Charles Doody, Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowtiz, Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti, Recreation Jeff Kaylor, Town Clerk Tracy Kenney and Library Director Mark Lague all presented requests to the board.

, the town’s finance director, said the town is looking at a $72 million total town budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012.

The departments that went before the board are those that are seeking appropriations in excess of their FY 2011 budgets, Murgia said.

The budget is in the preliminary stages, but between revenue, fixed costs and cash capital, there is only about a $27,000 gap, Murgia said. However, the school budget is in need of a $690,000, the Board of Selectmen Chairman Victor Del Vecchio noted.

There is about $1 million in free cash currently, according to Murgia. About $200,000 of that is state aid for schools for special education, he said.

“We are still facing a shortfall of $690,000” for schools, the chairman, said.

l said that reserves could be used “on any shortfall, but use of a one-time reserve is probably not a good thing to do.”

“We have some decisions to make, without a doubt,” Friel said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Canton Police Officer Robert Zepf Jr. received a letter of commendation from the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night. Zepf was the first to respond to a victim in full cardiac arrest and managed, with the help of two Canton firefighters that subsequently arrived on the scene, to save the patient’s life.

“Congratulations on a job well done,” said. The incident represented the teamwork between the Canton Police and Canton Fire Departments, he said.