It’s budget season, and the question the Board of Selectmen (BOS) faces is deceptively simple: What is Stafford willing to pay for? The board wrestled with this question at the February 8, 2024, meeting – a meeting at which only three residents (including me) were in the audience.
First Selectman Bill Morrison kicked off the budget discussion by saying that eight of the 38 town departments delivered budgets that represented a decrease. Seven had no increase. Four asked for increases of less than $1,000. One of the departments asking for a significant increase was the Department of Public Works (DPW), and the director, Devin Cowperthwaite, was there to defend his budget requests.
Last year, the DPW took a big hit, leaving just $150,000 in its paving budget, a barebones figure covering potholes and curb replacements. This year, Cowperthwaite is asking for $1,000,000 to begin addressing town roads that are in desperate need of fixing. The proposed DPW budget also includes hiring a foreman – a position left open since last year – and a laborer. Without a foreman, Cowperthwaite says, the town doesn’t have someone to oversee the projects – which, he pointed out, was the situation back in 2015 when the geothermal project was underway. He also pointed out that when the town does undertake projects, not having the manpower to complete prep work means that the DPW has to hire contractors, ultimately making projects more expensive.
In a budget that would increase by less than $400,000 without the paving request, that $1,000,000 sticks out like a sore thumb, begging to be lopped off to please taxpayers. Here’s the conundrum: Cowperthwaite and Morrison field daily calls from angry townspeople who want their roads fixed, but paving budgets are the first to take the hit when budgets need cutting.
So, will the citizens of Stafford approve a budget hike if it means some roads will finally get the attention they need? The BOS doesn’t seem to think so.
Selectman Kurt Vail said, “Our Boss isn’t going to approve this.” Vail suggested the town try to keep its increase on par with the school budget increase at 4% or less. That would require cutting roughly $780,000 from the current proposed budget.
Selectman Rick Hartenstein asked Cowperthwaite which position – foreman or laborer – he would choose if they could only give him one. Cowperthwaite said the foreman is necessary, especially as grant-funded projects like the Levinthal Run sidewalk construction get underway. Without the laborer, however, DPW doesn’t have the manpower to even maintain the status quo when it comes to the roads.
After the meeting, I asked Cowperthwaite how much it costs to pave one mile of road. While the cost can vary wildly, depending on the specifics, he estimated that, on average, it costs about $300,000 to $350,000. Do the math, and you’ll realize that with over 90 miles of road in town, it would take about 30 years to completely address every mile of road at the requested level of funding.
Cowperthwaite says he hears from people who voted against last year’s budget because there wasn’t enough funding for the roads, which led to another debate. Should the BOS present the budget as-is and let voters decide how they feel about the potentially large increase? Or do they make cuts now, before the voters have a chance to weigh in?
There was a third option: The BOS could hold a town forum to present the budget and get feedback. Though, of course, every board meeting gives citizens the opportunity to show up and make their priorities known, and yet, there were only three people sitting in the audience during this important budget discussion.
So, the question still stands: What is Stafford willing to pay for? Do voters want to keep kicking the can down the road, or do they want to spend a little extra to address the town’s infrastructure?