The budget Longo presented to selectmen this week shows an overall increase of 1.6 percent over last year versus the budget he unveiled December 15, which showed a 4.5 percent decrease from FY04. However, the budget still includes cuts between 1 to 6 percent for all town departments and the schools. The proposed FY05 budget totals over $48.9 million.

The increase in the bottom line comes from a few things. Longo has projected that there will be no decrease in state aid to Duxbury, which provided an extra $180,494 in revenue. He had included a 5 percent decrease in state aid in his initial FY05 budget. Longo has also included a $547,923 capital budget, a 26 percent increase over last year, but this includes bonding, or borrowing, for four pieces of DPW equipment and the Route 3A water line replacement. Also, the fees increases on many town services that selectmen approved recently will create an estimated $659,000 in additional revenue.

Longo has also used $800,000 of free cash to balance the budget. There is currently $1.3 million in the town’s free cash savings account, and every year some of this money is used at the end of town meeting to balance the budget. Rocco’s proposal leaves the town with $500,000, while it usually has approximately a million left in free cash.

 “This is certainly not a budget I’ve been comfortable presenting,” Longo told selectmen Monday night. “It was either cut employees or cut expenses. We’ve cut to the bare bones.”

These cuts will mean that the library and senior center will each close one day a week or shorten their daily hours. It also means that the Ashdod fire station will keep its reduced schedule, and it means that town departments will have to watch their costs carefully, as many have had their expense budgets cut to the bare minimum.

In the general government budget, the cuts made to most departments came out of the expense portions of these budgets in order to preserve jobs. For example, the assessors absorbed Longo’s recommended 4.5 percent cut by slashing their expense budget by 28 percent. The planning board accepted a 34 percent cut in expenses in order to preserve their workers’ salaries.

“This is now scraping the bottom of the barrel,” said Longo of the cuts made to town government. “But we’ll get through it for one year.”

His own department, the selectmen’s office, must cut five hours from a clerical position.

Longo increased the school budget figure although it still is down from last year. In his initial FY05 budget, Longo proposed a 5 percent cut in education, or a $22.4 million total budget. The new FY05 budget reflects a 2.3 percent decrease for a total of approximately $22.9 million. The school department had wanted a 3 percent increase over last year, or  $24.2 million.

For the overall public safety budget, Longo has reduced the original cut he made from 4 percent to 1 percent for a total of $4.8 million.

The fire and police departments had wanted a 3 percent increase, or a $5 million budget. The 1 percent reduction will mean that the town’s police force won’t lose four officers and that the Ashdod fire department won’t be closed entirely. However, the animal control officer’s budget will be cut by 4.5 percent as will the salaries for the harbormaster’s budget. Nonetheless, the harbormaster department’s expenses will rise by almost 53 percent because the money is needed for equipment maintenance, said Longo.

The Department of Public Works budget will see a 1.1 percent decrease instead of the proposed 4 percent reduction. Cuts were made to the following items: road maintenance projects, the central fuel depot, town building maintenance, the Tarkiln building budget, and water and sewer salaries.

The library and recreation budget will be reduced by almost 5 percent. This figure amounts to $1.31 million.  The library budget has been cut by 4.5 percent. Longo said this means the library will have to close one day or adjust the times it opens and closes to save this money. The recreation department expenses will be slashed by 41 percent, the North Hill golf course projects budget has been cut 50 percent to $2,500 and the beach life guards and Memorial day celebration budgets have also been reduced 4.5 percent each.

The human services budget, which includes the Council on Aging, has been cut by the most – 6 percent. The Council on Aging budget shows a 6.4 percent reduction. Longo says this means the senior center may not be open its current 5 days a week, or it will have to reduce the number of hours it opens each day.

In his proposed capital budget, Longo shows no money for school projects and he wants to bond three large dump trucks with plows for the DPW (a total of $245,000) and a $90,000 front-end loader for the transfer station. Some items included in the capital budget this year are $10,000 for information technology; $25,000 for a harbormaster patrol truck; $10,000 for seawall repairs; $25,000 for a DPW pick-up; $10,000 for two plows and $28,000 for a lands and natural resources department pick-up truck.

All the crematory capital requests will be funded this year: $60,000 to reline a crematory retort; $18,000 for a utility vehicle; and $80,000 to design a remodeled crematory. Money for these projects will come from a fund for the sale of lots and graves that contains $297,000. It is only for cemetery use.