Proposed Ipswich budget stays within state limits

Wicked Local North (Danvers, MA)

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IPSWICH -- Taxes will go up to pay for the next general government budget, but the proposed budget stays within Proposition 2-1/2 limits.

The proposed 2020-2021 general government budget contains a 1.9% increase, up $376,091 over the current budget of $19,731,201.

Schools will look at their budget separately and began the process at the School Committee meeting last week.

The general government budget Town Manager Anthony Marino proposed must still go through reviews from the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the tri-board's bean counting meeting and Town Meeting must grant its final approval at the spring meeting.

Tri-board is a meeting of the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the School Committee.

Key elements driving the general government budget include:

--A sanitary waste increase, as the town's contract with JRM allows, of 7.8 percent or $72,000, in a $993,000 total budget allocation, with total waste tonnage the town generates up 8 percent;

--A 6% projected increase for employee health insurance;

--A 4.29% increase in employee pensions

--An average 2% increase in negotiated employee salaries.

The overall tax levy growth is 3.2%, Finance Director Sarah Johnson said, with .7% percent growth in the tax base.

Marino's budget turned down or reduced requests for hikes asked by some town departments to pay for more staffing.

A police department request for an additional full time officer dedicated to traffic and parking was rejected, as was the Ipswich Public library's request for an additional part time staff member. However, the budget will partially fund a part time archivist. The ReCreation and Culture Dept. asked for $10,000 to pay for additional part time help. It will get $5,000.

Council on Aging increases were also rejected. Director Sheila Taylor told the Select Board at its last meeting that budget increases will be needed as the aging population in Ipswich has increased by 41 percent. Transportation requests are "exploding," she said. A year ago, there was a 165% increase in transportation service. Since then there has been an additional 50% increase. Housing needs have increased, she said. Now 44% of the town's aging population says their housing is not affordable. There is not enough affordable housing or senior housing to accommodate them, Taylor said.

Proposition 2-1/2 keeps the tax levy limit to a 2-1/2% total tax increase, excluding what town managers call "new growth" in the town's tax base, .7 percent this year.

The total tax increase includes the 2.5% state law allows, new growth, individual fluctuations in property values and operational overrides that voters must approve and remain from year to year and debt exclusion overrides that allow the town to pay for a specific project and once the town pays off that project, the override comes off the books.

The budget's OPEB payments -- essentially health care costs for retired employees -- remains separate from the 4.29% increase in employee health care costs in the proposed budget.

The town continues to pay into the OPEB account according to a formula Town Meeting approved.

The formula includes:

.25% of the figure for total employee salaries

25% of any figure over $1 million in the town's free cash account, state-certified money left after the town pays all its bills and collects all outstanding charges in a given year.

The OPEB account now stands at $5 million, with a $23 million, 30-year total liability.

The town maintains a AAA bond rating from Standard and Poor's, which was impressed with the town's formula, Johnson said.

"We're in good shape when it comes to OPEB," Johnson said. "A lot of communities are not funded at all. When it comes due, we've got a nice nest egg to address this liability."

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