"We are offering a status quo budget this year, meaning we're offering the same level of services as the previous budget, with about a 1.2 percent increase in spending," said Town Manager Chuck Frigon.

The municipal budget, according to documentation provided by the Town Manager's office, should increase to $23,698,110, or $311,964 from $23,386,146 for 2008-09's spending levels. Adding to the budget will be the $1,407,000 in school bonding expenditures and the Board of Education's budget of $37,283,050. The education budget is being delivered to the Town Council with a 5.9 percent increase, or a $2,077,234 spending increase, from $35,205,816 in 2008-09.

With school budgets and bonding considered and increased costs in the municipal budget, there is a total of $3,796,198 in additional spending. The BOE-approved education budget and the expenditures resulting from the bonding for the Three School Project are a substantial portion of the increase, comprising 92 percent of the $3.8 million increase.

The subcommittee is scrutinizing the budget with discerning eyes this year, as they attempt to keep new spending under control, while uncovering savings or over-funding in the budget.

Initiating the budgetary review were the Offices of Planning and Zoning and the Department of Public Works.

The Planning & Zoning Department has requested $210,194 for the upcoming year, a 1.74 percent increase. Part of the P&Z increase is the salary of Moosa Rafey, the assistant zoning enforcement officer. This was questioned by Finance Subcommittee Carl Mancini, who noted the 25.89 percent increase as being unusually high.

"We evaluated each of the positions," said Mr. Frigon. "This was one of four that we felt required a significant equitable adjustment. This position was under-funded."

Mr. Frigon also noted that many wage increases in the upcoming budget cannot be reduced, because they were part of a negotiated union contract, which implemented several wage equalization efforts.

The one substantial, and revisable, addition made by the P&Z Office is $3,600 for new computers. Zoning Enforcement Officer Ruth Mulcahy cited the failing state of the office's computers as beginning to effect the efficiency of the office. Finance Subcommittee members agreed, with Mr. Frigon stating, "Those computers were hand-me-downs from the BOE."

"They've actually been thrown out twice already," said Mr. Frigon.

Most other expenses in the P&Z remained with no increase, or had been cut substantially. Professional and technical services have been reduced from $10,000 to $2,500, and overtime accounts have been reduced by a third.

Funds for the Zoning Board of Appeals will be reduced by 14.32 percent, with cuts to funding for the minutes secretary and cuts to overtime, which is used to compensate Mr. Rafey for when he attends meetings. Conservation Commission funds are being reduced by 10.68 percent, with funding being reduced across its entire spectrum of line items.

Overall, the Finance Subcommittee members did not offer any opposition to Ms. Mulcahy's budget, and didn't offer to make any specific changes.

Public Works Director Roy Cavanaugh opened his report on the Public Works Department budget by saying, "We have no new positions and no new upgrades."

The Public Works Department budget for engineering and administration is proposed to have a 7.52 percent increase, with the Department's requests totaling $538,472, as compared to $503,336 in the current 2008-09 budget. Increases are influenced by salary increases to engineering staff, the Public Works director, town engineer, and assistant town engineer, which represent approximately $34,000 added to the budget. Several line items, including uniform allowance and longevity, are contract negotiated costs and could not be adjusted.

Meanwhile, AutoCAD software funds have been eliminated.

The Highway Department has proposed a 13.39 percent increase, requesting $1,920,135, increased from $1,768,281 for 2008-09.

The most substantial driver to this increase is that the Highway Department has requested funding for pavement rehab in section nine, which has been increased 224 percent to $105,122. This will facilitate road repair in the northwest section of Watertown. An addition of $105,000 has been made to pavement rehab in section eight, which is the Bunker Hill Road area. Other requests, such as $12,000 for Sunnyside Avenue reconstruction and $30,000 for a new street sweeper, were removed in the Town Manager's recommendations. The money for Sunnyside reconstruction was appropriated by residents in a special town meeting, and at the March 2 Town Council meeting, $20,000 was appropriated for the repair of the existing sweepers.

The Highway Department is also requesting $15,763 for a new dump truck, and $25,000 of new money for the purchase of a pickup truck. Mr. Cavanaugh noted that, "the average age of our trucks is about ten years old."

Mr. Cavanaugh then moved into the snow removal budget, for which $403,307 has been requested, $33 less than the previous budget. One of the largest costs for snow removal is overtime, which totaled $188,740. As reported by Mr. Cavanaugh, the overtime line item is largely spent on call-outs for overnight storms. Though spending remains at the same level for this line item, Mr. Cavanaugh stated there is approximately $35,000 remaining in this year's overtime funds, which may be wiped out by compensation time. Comp time was defined as overtime work exchanged for paid time off at a later date.

With this number of storms this year, Mr. Cavanaugh said other towns have also exhausted similar budget items.

"Danbury has had to go into their contingency fund three times already," said Mr. Cavanaugh.

Out of all the Public Works expenses, nearly all items pertaining to vehicle maintenance, including equipment parts, tires, oil and lubricants, and all vehicle maintenance funds, are not being reduced. The costs for these items exceed $100,000.

"We have a small fleet valued at about $2 million," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "We have quite a bit of money invested and we don't want it to go to waste."

In coming weeks, the Finance Subcommittee will be reviewing the other departments for the town. At their next meeting on Thursday, March 5, the library, Fire Department, Town Council, Public Buildings, Town Manager, Finance Department, Economic Development Commissions and Health Services departmental requests will be reviewed.