Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons presents the budget task force draft to the Select Board on May 4.
Photo credit: LongmeadowTV
LONGMEADOW — Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons is figuring out strategies for the town’s financial future, creating a budget task force to ensure long-term stability.
The task force’s goal is to create a five-year sustainable fiscal plan to bridge the gap between projected revenues and the cost of maintaining town services through a combination of revenue enhancement, expense trimming, cost containment and strategic prioritization.
Simmons presented her draft for the task force to the Select Board at its meeting on May 4.
The task force is modeled after several others in the state from communities grappling with similar budget struggles, she said. It would meet from June to December, where it would then make a budget recommendation to the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee in a joint meeting.
“This is not just looking at next fiscal year’s budget, it is looking at the next five fiscal years,” Simmons said. “This budget deficit that we’re in is not projected to go away any time soon, and I need a consensus of people to come together and really have some tough conversations about what is a core service that we are maintaining, what are we looking at doing differently or what are some potential alternate revenue sources that we might be able to explore.”
The task force would consist of 11 members with a balance of institutional knowledge and public oversight. The members include the town manager, one representative each from the Select Board, Finance Committee and School Committee, the finance director, superintendent of schools, school business manager and four public members appointed by the town manager.
The public members would be residents with experience in community advocacy, along with general knowledge of town and school responsibilities, according to Simmons’ draft.
Simmons recommends that the task force chair would be a public member or Finance Committee representative to ensure impartiality, with the town manager or finance director serving as technical advisors.
The scope of work is divided into four phases, the first being a deep dive and diagnosis for the first two months.
The first phase includes an audit of existing services to catalog all town and school services, a revenue analysis to review property tax trends and new growth projections, expense drivers with a detailed briefing on health insurance and a look at historical implications to see previous decisions that put the town where it is today.
Phase two occurs in the third and fourth months and has the task force evaluate “four levers of municipal finance,” including revenue generation, cost containment, reserves and Proposition 2 ½.
Phase three is scenario modeling with the task force developing at least three distinct five-year scenarios.
Scenario A is maintenance, what an override looks like to maintain current service levels. Scenario B is structural realignment, a balanced budget achieved through service cuts and fee increases without an override. Scenario C is a smaller override combined with specific efficiencies and new revenue streams.
Phase four is the final written report and presentation to the Select Board, Finance Committee and School Committee.
The draft also notes key evaluation criteria, which are things the task force should weigh each option against while making recommendations, such as sustainability, equity, service impact and feasibility.
The task force would follow Open Meeting Law with meetings posted and open to the public and may also hold listening sessions with department heads to understand operations. There would also be at least two public forums or surveys, one to present findings and one to gather feedback before the final report.
Simmons said that the next step is to send out applications for the four public seats. The first meeting is expected to take place in June and go throughout the summer and fall.
