Board of Finance Demands Town, Schools Consolidate

The Board of Finance forced the town and the schools to begin consolidation in the name of cost-cutting. On Tuesday night they eliminated positions and $200,000 from First Selectman Gordon Joseloff’s proposed 2011-12 budget.

 “This is a well-intended but naïve way to go about responsible budget making and budget cutting,” Joseloff told the Board of Finance. “You have not done an analysis of this. You’re taking a meat cleaver and an axe when it requires careful analysis.”

Brian Stern, a member of the Board of Finance, said it’s “ridiculous” that the town and schools have individual departments doing similar tasks. Both entities are funded by Westport taxpayers and share offices in Town Hall, but payroll, information technology and other services are handled by two different departments.

Avi Kaner, also on the board, said that these cuts are the only way to necessitate the long-sought consolidations. “Nobody’s going to want to give up part of their empire,” he said.

The $200,000 in cuts included $75,000 from the Information Technology department and $75,000 from the Finance Department. The board indicated that they’d ask for similar cuts when they work through the Board of Education’s budget on Thursday in the hope that the department would consolidate.

After the meeting, Joseloff reiterated his concerns about the cuts, saying the Board of Finance "didn’t do their homework.” He expressed skepticism that the schools would be able to – or even want to – merge some of their departments with the town, chiefly Information Technology.

“I’m puzzled by what they’ve proposed,” said Joseloff. “We’ll look at everything, but clearly they haven’t done their analysis.

While the Board of Finance mandated these cuts, they are not final. The town has the opportunity to ask for restoration of the cut money, and the Board of Finance could oblige.

Before the meeting, Joseloff’s budget totaled $66.6 million. He announced at the start of the meeting that an additional $250,000 in savings have been found , since the state owes Westport for road paving aid.

The Board of Finance went line-by-line through most of the budget, but Parks and Recreation and other items, such as pensions, will be discussed Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

Correction: It was mistakenly reported that the Finance Department was cut $50,000. The actual number is $75,000.