Budget discussion continues in Wellington

November 4, 2009

By JoAn Bjarko

The Wellington

 

Wellington (Colorado) town board members took another look at a draft budget for 2010 and agreed that the town should raise the deductible for employee health insurance in an effort to counteract the increase in premiums.

Finance director Mike Cummins explained that health insurance for town employees will go up 4 to 5 percent if the deductible increases from $2,000 to $3,000. Otherwise, he said, premiums will increase nearly 40 percent.

“It’s a pretty hard pill to swallow,” Cummins said.

To offset the impact of a higher deductible, the board decided to double the town match to an employee’s health savings account. That increases the match from $250 to $500 annually.

Meeting in an Oct. 27 work session on the budget, the board agreed to add no cost-of-living increase to employee salaries. The board will, however, budget for merit increases up to 2 percent.

According to the Denver-Boulder-Greeley Consumer Price Index, average “basket of goods” prices decreased 2.3 percent from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Cummins said he cannot justify asking for salary increases when the CPI drops into negative numbers.

Cummins advised the board that next year’s budget will continue to dip into the town’s fund balances. With the current budget, the fund balances will drop to $5.46 million by the end of this year. If the town board adopts a budget of about $9.32 million, fund balances will drop to $3.19 million by the end of 2010.

Board members accepted the forecast and made no requests to change the budget. “We’ve got a lot in our favor for the future,” commented Mayor Larry Noel.

Town administrator Larry Lorentzen is tentatively budgeting $20,000 to hire a consultant to help prepare a master plan for town facilities. The study would include a comparison of public facilities commonly found in or near communities of similar size. Wellington has an estimated population of 5,500.

Lorentzen also put $120,000 in the draft budget to continue design work on Buffalo Creek Park in 2010. This year’s budget includes $30,000 for design. After getting 13 responses to a request for proposals, the town is in the process of hiring a consultant for park design. The park is located north of Washington Street on the west side of Well-ington.

The town board will hold another budget work session at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, one hour prior to its regular board meeting. Meetings are held in the Leeper Center at the corner of Third Street and Wilson Avenue.