Some Immediate Budget Cuts To Lessen Town Services

Norfolk Public Library will be closed Sundays. The Norfolk Police Department won’t replace police officers who have to miss a shift for sickness or other reasons.

Town officials were still finalizing mid-fiscal-year budget cuts this week, but the effects of some cuts will already be felt this weekend, when the library remains dark on Sunday.

Town department heads are working out 1 percent reductions in their budgets, made necessary because of the elimination prison mitigation funding from the state and some flagging town revenues.

A one-article Special Town Meeting to approve the budget reduction and transfers is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 12 at H. Olive Day School.

The town library at one time was open Sundays from mid- October through April, but the months of Sundays were delayed to January because of service reduction made necessary by budget problems last spring. Now that won’t happen, either.

“Also, circulation staff members who are either out sick or are on vacation will not be replaced. This will mean a longer wait-time at the desk for patrons,” said Robin Glasser, library director, in an email message.

Norfolk Police Chief Charles H. Stone Jr. said some shifts may be undermanned if officers can’t make their regular shift, meaning police won’t get to certain tasks like directing schoolrelated traffic in the morning and afternoon.

“Any midyear cuts will come from the overtime account, so, if we are scheduled to replace an officer for leave for any reason to maintain proper staffing levels we will not be able to do so,” Stone wrote in an email message.

The usual four or five officers on day-time shifts will probably be reduced if officers can’t make a shift because they are out sick, on vacation, taking a personal day, or in training, Stone said.

The Police Department figures to lose $17,300 from its current budget funds.

Part of the town’s budget problem stems from a decision by Governor Deval Patrick to eliminate $192,000 in prison mitigation funding the town typically receives. Norfolk hosts three state prisons (and much of a fourth), and the town provides certain services to the prisons, including fire protection and ambulance runs. The state money is supposed to mitigate the town for the costs of providing services to the state prisons. But in December the governor eliminated prison mitigation funding for all towns that have state prisons, in an attempt to help make up for state revenue shortfalls.

But aside from the state cuts, the town is having trouble with home-grown revenues, too.

Investment income is down to about one-quarter of what it was last year around this time — not just because interest rates are low, but because Norfolk property owners are taking more time to pay their property taxes, meaning the town has less money in the bank, Town Administrator Jack Hathaway said in an interview.

Automobile excise taxes are down, too.

Building permit fees for new construction and renovations are down, too — though it still takes about the same amount of time to perform inspections of building projects, since the actual number of permits is staying steady.

“The frustrating thing is the number of permits are still about the same, it’s just that the value of the permits and the work being done is a lot less,” Hathaway said.