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Hampshire
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HAMPSHIRE COUNCIL
OF GOVERNMENTS
Administrator’s Budget Message
Proposed FY2010 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 County 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. HAMPSHIRE POWER: • Hampshire Power, the Council electricity program, continues to dominate the Council budget, accounting for over $6.4M of $7.6M projected expenses. While projections can be made with a bit more confidence this year, it is emphatically not possible to know what the electricity markets will bring twelve months from now. Additional school, business, and municipal customers continue to join the program, increasing the potential impact on our budget. Projections for the purchase and sale of electric power have been included with the understanding that they may differ from the actual results. Because the energy markets can be volatile and difficult to predict, the Council Finance and Electricity Committees meet monthly to respond to energy developments and their impact on our finances. MEMBERSHIP DUES LEVEL OR REDUCED: • For the ninth consecutive year, annual dues to the Council have either remained steady or declined. When the Council began in 1999, 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. • All twelve member towns voted in 2006 to reduce membership dues by an additional 75% by committing to a four-year membership, so for the fourth year in a row, all current members are taking advantage of the “four-for-one” dues reduction. Member dues of $37,206 help to support total program activity in excess of $45,000,000 across all budgets. 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 Old Courthouse, generating annual revenues of approximately $120,000. POSTPONED OBLIGATIONS: • As in all of our member towns, budget cuts in recent years have reduced staff significantly. This budget continues to rely on employees performing the duties of more than one position. In spite of a deep commitment among employees to providing excellent services, some functions are simply not being performed adequately. For example, the maintenance and protection of historical documents archived here has been neglected. • Again this year, minimal funds have been budgeted for building maintenance. It is critical to protect the integrity of the exterior shell of the building, including repairs to roof and basement walls and a professional assessment of the infrastructure needs to be conducted of this historical building. • Computer maintenance has been budgeted at the bare minimum with the expectation that the present equipment will support operations through FY2010 budget. FY2010 OVERALL OUTLOOK: |