Budget, trash fees face council action; Mayor says government-side budget smaller than the current one.

Byline: Danielle M. Williamson 

GARDNER - The city's fiscal 2009 budget, trash fees and three ordinances that make property owners financially responsible for building nuisances are among the items on the City Council's heavy agenda tonight.

Each issue has been heavily discussed in past weeks during various meetings, and the council is scheduled to deal with them all tonight in Council Chambers, starting at 7:30.

While councilors have met individually with Mayor Mark P. Hawke in anticipation of his formal budget presentation to the full council, tonight is the first time the mayor will present his fiscal 2009 budget proposal in a public forum. The fiscal year starts July 1, and councilors will have a few weeks to deliberate line items before approving the budget, to which they may make reductions but not additions.

The mayor said yesterday his proposed fiscal 2009 budget of roughly $53 million is 2.6 percent less than the current year's. He did not want to get into detail before his official presentation, but said he does not think there are any drastic changes.

"I think we can work toward changes during the fiscal year," he said. "We have a financial management review from the state Department of Revenue scheduled for June, which I expect will help us make some of those changes. Some things will need council approval."

No increases in state aid, combined with rising heat and energy costs and state-mandated increases in the amount the city spends on its schools were among the factors that made budget deliberations challenging, the mayor said.

The School Committee last week approved a $25.6 million budget, which is about 3 percent more than what the state said Gardner had to pay this fiscal year.

Included in Mr. Hawke's budget is revenue from higher trash fees, which are in an ordinance the council may send to first printing tonight.

Health Director Bernard F. Sullivan, Mr. Hawke and the Finance Committee support increasing residents' annual trash fee from $150 to $180 to avoid a deficit in the solid waste enterprise account next year. If the council fails to approve the revised ordinance by the end of the fiscal year, Mr. Hawke said, the city would have to make up the shortfall through its tax levy.

The mayor said he would hold a public forum on the trash fees within a week and a half. If the council grants first approval to the ordinance tonight, final approval could take place June 2.

The council is also scheduled to vote tonight on three proposed ordinances that would impose fines for blight, vacant and abandoned buildings, and repeated false security alarms.

The ordinances are based on similar laws in Worcester, Revere and out of state. They aim to eliminate dilapidated buildings, overgrowth, debris, vacant and abandoned buildings, as well as to reduce the burden on public safety officials who repeatedly respond to chronic false alarms.

A fine schedule is included in each of the ordinances. Unpaid fines could be tacked onto the property owner's tax bill.

NAME: GARDNER CITY COUNCIL