About 20 people showed up to the public hearing on Oxford’s proposed $40.1 million budget. The hearing lasted 16 minutes.
Out of a handful of people who spoke, two asked the Board of Finance to add about $13,000 in the budget for a full-time conservation agent in town.
Conservation Agent
The request hints at a political fight between First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers and her opposition.
Conservation agent Andrew Ferrillo is currently suing the town to try to get benefits for his past work.
Ferrillo is officially a part-time employee, but says in his suit that he has been working at least 36 hours a week without benefits.
The Conservation Commission requested $42,567 in its budget for 2011 – 2012, which would pay for Ferrillo to be made a full-time employee, according to finance board member Richard Burke.
The Board of Selectmen funded the position at only $28,959.
Conservation Commission member Thomas Adamski and Michael Herde urged the Board of Finance to put back the $13,600 difference.
“I appeal to you to restore the wages of the conservation officer so we can continue to do a good job keeping the rural nature of the town,” Herde said.
Burke said Drayton-Rogers is the only person opposed to making the job full time.
Drayton-Rogers calls the lawsuit politically motivated and said this is not the time to be adding more money to the budget.
“In this economy, you can’t give everything and ask the taxpayers to pass a budget,” Drayton-Rogers said after the hearing.
Also, Drayton-Rogers said, the Board of Selectmen added another part-time officer in the department to help with the extra work. The new position is funded at $2,000.
Finance Board Chairman Lila Ferrillo declined to comment on the issue because Andrew Ferrillo is her husband.
Burke said the $13,600 was removed from the Conservation Commission budget, but the money is sitting in the town’s contingency fund because they expect a settlement in the lawsuit by July 1.
Other Savings
Drayton-Rogers said the town might be able to reduce spending if the clerical workers’ union agrees to a zero-percent increase contract for next year. The union is scheduled to vote on the contract this week, but Drayton-Rogers said they appeared ready to approve the measure.
The Board of Selectmen has already voted to give no raises to non-union and contract employees in town, Drayton-Rogers said. She estimated the savings there to be about $8,000 to $9,000.
Other unions in town have agreed to zero-percent increases over the past two years, she said.
“Even though it’s a small amount of money, all these things together can add up,” Drayton-Rogers said.
Budget Recap
- The total proposal is $40.1 million.
- The bottom line for the town side of the budget is $13.7 million.
- The bottom line for the education side of the budget is $26.3 million.
- The total spending increase is 3.98 percent, or $1.5 million.
- Tax rate increase is 2.78 mills, from 21.05 mills to 23.83 mills.
Click here to read a past story with more details on the budget proposal.
Next Step
The Board of Finance will meet Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. to finalize the budget and consider possible changes.
From there, the budget proposal goes to voters at a referendum, where they can vote on the town and education budget proposals separately.
The referendum is tentatively scheduled from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 17 at the Quaker Farms School.
The town will first hold its annual budget town meeting at 8 p.m. on May 2 at Quaker Farms School.
The budget proposal is posted at the end of this article.
