By SANDY McGEE

BLACKSTONE — Town Administrator Kenneth M. Bianchi this week presented the $17.3 million budget he has proposed for the 2009 fiscal year to the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee.

Under the town charter, the town administrator is responsible for presenting a proposed operating budget for all town departments. On Wednesday, Bianchi discussed his budget proposal with The Call.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 is currently set at $17,324,609, an increase of nearly $400,000 from last year’s budget.
Bianchi has identified a total of $17,327,344 in available revenue sources, which includes an estimated
$1,767,405 in available state funding. However, the amount of state funding may increase after the Legislature passes this year’s state budget.
With the amount of available revenue surpassing the proposed budget, the town is expected to gain a reserve or surplus of $2,735.
The proposed budget does include a small, undetermined tax increase for town residents.
“With my budget at this point and time, it (the tax increase) would be minimal,” Bianchi said. “The final determination still has three more steps.”
The budget has been submitted to the Board of Selectmen, which will create adjustments and make their own recommendations. The budget will then be discussed at a public hearing, where recommendations from the Financial Committee will be presented.
The budget will then be submitted to the public for their approval at the annual town meeting, which will be held on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Center.
“What I’ve tried to do is give a fiscally responsible budget,” Bianchi said. “We’re using a (Proposition) 2½ levy limit, all available revenue and all of the available motor vehicle excise tax, but there is a decrease in the motor vehicle revenue.”
The largest decline in revenue for this year’s budget stems from the motor vehicle excise tax, which dropped to an estimated $620,000 for the 2009 fiscal year.
Funds from the motor vehicle tax had previously brought in additional earnings for the town, such as $775,000 in 2007; $910,000 in both 2006 and 2007; and more than $1 million in 2005.
Town officials believe that rising fuel prices and the state of the economy has led to an overall decline in car sales and, therefore, a decrease in available earnings from the tax.
Bianchi has decided to supplement this decrease with $150,000 in “free cash,” which are leftover funds from the previous year’s budget and any excess from excise tax collections.
“People in businesses right now are finding little or no sustained growth in their business end,” Bianchi said. “We have to put a plan together that doesn’t drain things in future years. So, if you spend down your stabilization and you can’t supplement it with additional growth, then you’re headed for a 2 ½ override. That’s not my intent. My budget allows us to maintain the stabilization fund and minimally use the free cash.”
More than $2.1 million in revenues are also expected in personal property taxes from the American National Power facility. Ninety percent of those funds are transferred into a capital fund trust for the town. Nearly $1.5 million is also anticipated from lottery revenues.
The town administrator’s proposed financial plan is a level-funded salary budget, which includes no salary increases for current town employees. Potential pay raises were omitted from the budget since the town is currently in collective bargaining negotiations with representatives of the police, fire, clerical, Department of Public Works and dispatchers unions.
There are also no layoffs proposed for any department in this year’s budget. However, Bianchi, who also serves as the town’s public safety officer, is proposing the addition of one officer to the police department.
Blackstone Police Chief Ross A. Atstupenas recently sent a letter to Bianchi requesting an increase in funding for additional police officers in the next fiscal year budget.
According to Atstupenas, the department has seen an increase of emergency calls, motor vehicle stops and accidents, criminal complaints and arrests since last year. The police chief submitted the following statistics, which were recorded from Jan. 1 to April 19.
The department has seen a 50 percent increase in motor vehicle accidents since 2007. However, the number of motor vehicle accidents in the past four months, 43, is identical to the rate of accidents reported in those months in 2006.
The department has also seen a nearly 68 percent increase in arrests since 2007. Police arrested 134 individuals from January to April 19; 80 from January to April 19, 2007; and 85 arrests in those same four months in 2006.
The department also saw an increase of more than 10 percent for calls of service; more than 11 percent on an increase in motor vehicle stops; and a 15 percent increase in criminal complaints since 2007.
“As you can see, there was an increase in all areas provided,” wrote Atstupenas. “We have been extremely busy, which is due in part because of the economy. This will continue, if not get worse, without an improved economy.”
The police chief recently implemented a policy, requesting that no two officers take time off at once.
“In these times, it is getting very difficult and at times very dangerous to have only one officer on the road answering calls and responding to domestics alone,” wrote Atstupenas. “We do depend on other departments to assist; however, I do not feel that it is right to rely on them for their time.”
Bianchi is proposing the hire of an additional police officer within this year’s budget. The approval of this hire will be left up to the Board of Selectmen, the Finance Committee and, in May, town residents at the annual meeting.