Member of the Amherst Town Board
by Judy Einach
Debbie Bucki didn’t waste any time. She was prepared to talk about the town budget. She
said, “This is the second budget Supervisor Mohan has prepared. Preparing the budget is a long process that begins prior to July when department heads submit their budgets, based on an analysis of their needs for the following year, to the Supervisor and the Board. The Board and Supervisor then consider this request. The Supervisor formally presents his budget to the Board in October. This past October we suspended the rules and the public had an early opportunity to comment.”
On October 22nd the Board held a public hearing from 3-8 PM for the purpose of, as Bucki said, “giving more focus to the budget.” On October 29th the Board met to talk about amendments, what was added and what was taken out of the budget. The vote that day was 4-3 to approve with Debbie Bucki, Dan Ward, and Shelly Schratz voting against approving the budget.
Bucki was careful to say she can only speak for herself. She listed her reasons why she could not approve the budget. Primary among them is that, “Spending keeps increasing and the way they’re balancing the budget is to use the fund balance. In the last two budgets we’ve spent down the fund balance by as much as $9 million dollars.”
She’s concerned “this mimics the county situation.” She elaborated “that spending had gone up and in order to find the increased spending the Supervisor looked at the fund balance. In the last two budgets he has used $8-9 million from fund balance. It appears now we only have $10-11 million in the fund budget. This practices sounds like what’s been done in the county and we know what happened there.” Fund balance reserves were used to keep taxes from going up. The Town budget operating budget is $114-115 million.
“The Supervisor justified spending down the fund balance because there is an approved resolution saying there should always be a minimum benchmark of 10% of the operating budget in the fund balance. His interpretation is that he can do it [take the fund balance to this level] but just because you can do this should you do this?” Bucki has filed a resolution that would prohibit using so much money from the fund balance to offset rising costs.
What worries Bucki is that “we still don’t have definitive numbers on the budget.” There were three changes made to the budget and “when we approved we didn’t have the exact numbers. Therefore I didn’t vote to approve the budget.”
Bucki has concerns “about increased spending in the Town and elsewhere.” Within the Town of Amherst a “big part goes for salaries. The Town needs employees but since so much is for salaries I’m trying to look for savings in other ways.” She points to her committee work which has enabled her to promote energy conservation. Town Hall is being used as a pilot project. Within Town Hall, 95% of the bulbs have been changed to energy saving bulbs. Bucki plans to continue evaluating different energy-related practices in Amherst to come up with other ways to save money through energy conservation.
In 2006 a Town vehicles study was undertaken and it was found that the Town could use fewer vehicles. The Town Board decreased the number of new vehicles purchased in 2007 and even fewer vehicles will be purchased in 2008.
Also in 2006 Amherst had a hiring freeze which was in place in the beginning of the year but lifted at the end of that year. The Town is down from 691 employees to 681. Bucki submitted a resolution in the Fall “make a hiring freeze local law but it was not well received so I’m listening and taking notes.” What Bucki wants is “a more structured roadmap to address hiring issues.” She understands that department heads are worried that a hard and fast law could hamper their flexibility to make changes in staffing if needed.
Bucki consistently restates she’s “concerned. We’re a big town with big expenses and this is to be expected but I need to be accountable to taxpayers. I promised to hold the line on taxes and reduce the workforce through attrition.”
Bucki has a PhD in medical sociology. She’s been a teacher, a nurse, and a stay at home mom. I asked her if she enjoys her current position. “No day is boring and everyday is interesting. I’ve learned so much and met so many wonderful people. I’m grateful Amherst Democrats gave me an opportunity to run. I never could have imagined when I was 10 how one experience in life would lead to another. I have a unique opportunity of a lifetime to serve the public. I look at my nursing skills as transferring to this job because we get calls from people looking for help. Department heads are very cooperative with addressing any question that I have.”
This is Bucki’s first term on the Amherst Town Board. “I ran two times before in 2001 and 2003. In an election in which 3 people were elected I came in fourth. This time I won. I’m finishing the second year of my first term. They’re four-year terms.” I asked if there are term limits. “This Board voted in term limits,” she said. “Those starting now only will be able to serve two four-year terms in one position.” This applies to people who will be sworn into office in 2008. Technically Bucki could serve 12 years in her current position “but in the spirit of what we’ve passed I would only serve 8,” she said.
According to Debbie Bucki, “There’s always more to do but we’ve [the Board’s] done a lot. We’ve tried to institute reforms. We’ve also reformed Town Committees by imposing term limits on their members to give more people a chance to serve. Unfortunately the media portrays our differences, but we’ve tried to work together and we have put through some very important initiatives. Because the Town is so big and the Board has five Republicans and two Democrats you have discussion. If you have a Board with everyone from the same Party I think you may have less discussion.” In January the Board will have four Republicans and three Democrats.
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