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HAMPSHIRE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
Administrator’s Budget Message
Proposed FY 2006 Budget
This is the operating budget for the core regional services functions
of the Hampshire Council of Governments. Two major Council programs have
separate budgets: the Hampshire Group Insurance Trust and Hampshire Care.
The insurance fiscal year is April to March, correlating with the insurance
contract year; the nursing facility fiscal year is January to December;
correlating with reimbursement reporting requirements. The combined cash
flow for all Council operations is approximately $38M.
MEMBERSHIP DUES REMAIN CONSTANT: For the fourth consecutive
year, no member town will see an increase in dues to the Hampshire Council
of Governments in FY’2006. Indeed, each town’s assessment
is 17% lower for FY’06 than it was in FY2000. When the Council began,
our goal was to develop entrepreneurial sources of revenue sufficient
to support regional services while reducing dues. Committee work continues
to focus on that goal.
COST REDUCTIONS MAINTAINED:
• The FY ’03 budget supported 12 employees whose hours were
the equivalent of 8.03 full-time employees. The FY ’04 and ’05
budgets 6.08 FTEs, reduced the positions of Council Administrator, Chief
Procurement Officer, and Assistant to the Administrator to part time.
This budget expands and consolidates those reductions so that more people
are cross-trained in the work of more than one department.
• Building maintenance costs continue to be low; an ongoing benefit
of the refurbishing completed in 2003.
• As in all our member towns, no budget item has been exempt from
scrutiny. Although most cuts have been of the nickel and dime variety,
taken together, they help. Because every department has been rigorous
in this, it is difficult to find new opportunities.
EARNED INCOME: The Council is aggressively pursuing the
benefits of capital and enterprise that bring stability to private organizations.
• The Council leases portions of the administrative office building,
generating annual revenues in excess of $120,000.
• Hampshire Care, continuing a four-year trend, will pay the Council
an administrative fee. Gradually increasing over the past three years,
it will reach $50,000 in FY ’06. At the same time, Hampshire Care
maintains both the highest quality care in Hampshire County and a balanced
and self-sufficient operating budget.
• The Council is actively pursing revenue producing enterprises,
including development of the property surrounding Hampshire Care and implementation
of an electricity program planned to bring lower electric rates to cities
and towns in Western Massachusetts.
RESERVE FUNDS complete funding of this budget proposal,
without tapping into reserves for the electricity project. The Council
is committed to careful monitoring of council programs and finances and
to making any necessary adjustments during the fiscal year in order to
protect and foster the long-term stability of the Council.
