The commissioners agreed during budget planning sessions earlier this year to hold capital improvement expenses until summer revenue could be better evaluated. Transfer tax revenue has been like a yo-yo this year. Ferrese said $54,000 has been collected in October, with three or four more home sales that have not yet been finalized, potentially totaling $100,000 in revenue for the month. This summer, parking meter revenue came in $74,000 higher than what the city budgeted.

However, the policy of decreasing expenses – hiring fewer part-time employees, decreasing overtime and holding off on large capital improvements – is still in effect.

Ferrese said the city has cut $297,000 in employee expenditures, including $50,000 each in workers’ compensation and city hospitalization, $70,000 in liability insurance and $127,000 in payroll from April 2 to Oct. 14. The decreases in liability and workers’ compensation were due to reduced rates, while the hospitalization rate did not increase.

“We’re getting there. We just don’t want to lay anybody off,” Ferrese said.

The city has spent 38 percent – $93,000 – of its $632,000 capital improvement budget this year. Ultimately, Ferrese said, the city will likely spend close to $300,000 more in capital improvements before the year is over.

Already purchased this year are:

Batteries for parking meters and a new change machine – $46,000 combined

Renovations to the Main Street building – $37,000

Two Billy Goat street cleaning machines for the street department – $6,800

Other than the new change machine, the city is reporting that all of these improvements came in under budget.

Ferrese said two improvements are currently out to bid: a new air conditioner for the convention center, budgeted at $75,000, and solar panels for the building and licensing complex at 306 Rehoboth Ave. The city budgeted $37,500 for the panels and has already spent $2,600 on engineering costs. Soon to be going to out to bid is a sewer line replacement at the St. Lawrence Street pump station, budgeted at $70,000.

Among the items the city is holding back on are:

A new copier for the building and licensing department – saving $8,600

A new pickup truck for the street department – $26,000

A new flatbed truck for the water department – $48,000

Water department office addition – $40,000

Stormceptor at Country Club Estates – $55,000

Of the various department heads, Ferrese said, “They’ve all cut as much as they can. When they submit their capital improvements in November, they’re going to all know to put down what they need to get by the year. We’re not over this yet.”

Commissioner Stan Mills suggested the city come up with a five-year capital improvement budget. Mills said department heads should come up with a list of items they desire and submit them to the city manager, who would then cull through the list before submitting them to the commissioners.

“I think this is going to be an excellent tool. I’d like to see it developed more fully,” Mills said.

Commissioner Willis Sargent disagreed, saying the problem with long-term capital improvement planning is that by year two, the plan is practically useless.

He said long-term planning is important for items that have long lead times, such as trucks or buildings.

“We’re so dependent on the economy. We’re so dependent on weather. We’re so dependent on things that are way beyond our control that I think trying to set out a detailed plan just won’t work,” Sargent said.

Mayor Sam Cooper said, “I’m kind of in the middle somewhere. To me, the best, most important number is the grand total for the five years. I think people tend to want things now and don’t want to wait three, four or five years. And that would give you an idea of what the city should be investing back in. We’ve kind of taken a break because of the economy, but that’s offset by the fact that we’ve done well in keeping things maintained.”