After Rochester Finance Director Suzanne Szyndlar said the town needs to cut $300,000 from FY25 to end up with a balanced budget, that goal has been reached and in fact exceeded. At the conclusion of Rochester’s Finance Committee on Monday, Szyndlar said, “$327,921 has been reduced from the FY25 budget, so we are able to make our budget balanced.”
The town’s overall budget represents a 2.15% increase over FY24, but the town must also deal with a 5.08% increase from the Old Rochester Regional School District. Szyndlar said the Rochester Finance Committee cannot formally approve the town’s budget number for the May 13 Annual Town Meeting warrant until ORR approves its final FY25 budget number this week.
“The good news is, if the school’s number stays the same, we can balance the budget,” she said.
To get to that balanced number Monday, Szyndlar and the Finance Committee reduced various previous budget requests: from the registrations account, Szyndlar said, $3,182 was eliminated by reducing 16 hours requested for the town clerk assistant down to 12 hours.
A Town Hall line item was reduced by $20,000 to a total of $569,970 because some of the hours laid aside to employ Old Colony Vocational-Technical High School students for Town Hall work were not used in last year’s budget.
The Police Department budget was reduced by $112,491 to $1,705,000 by eliminating a request for a patrol vehicle and several other expense requests, Szyndlar said.
The Fire Department’s most significant cut was $23,229 to eliminate a request for a part-time, day-time firefighter to work Saturdays and Sundays. The department also cut approximately $9,000 from Red Alert Mobile Dispatch, $4,908 to equipment maintenance, oil heat ($1,000), and medical services ($1,000), totaling a reduction of $42,071.44.
The Highway Department cut a salary request for an additional worker.
The Board of Health budget was reduced by $11,025 by shaving off 10 additional hours requested for an administrative assistant.
The Council on Aging budget was reduced by cutting van-driving hours from 15 to 10 after Szyndlar discovered there had been less usage this year than what the department had anticipated.
The Rochester Finance Committee will meet next on Tuesday, April 16, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Finance Committee
By Mike DeCicco