By JOHN KOZIOL
Staff Writer
LACONIA — The City Council on Monday began
making what it called "tentative" changes to the
proposed $47.3 million municipal budget for
2004-2005, including the addition of $17,000 to
increase the salaries of out-of-town police
officers who patrol during Motorcycle Week.
The council voted unanimously in favor of a net
total appropriation of $211,930 for the associated
costs of the nine-day rally after Police Chief Tom
Oetinger said he was concerned that the current
compensation for out-of-town officers was low
compared to what the officers could earn on
outside detail in their own communities.
Rather than ask the council for a large
increase at one time, Oetinger explained that he
was bringing the compensation up gradually. The
line item now stands at $79,927, up from $62,933
last year.
Earlier in the evening, the council cut $3,000
from the Bike Week budget since the city won’t
have to pay to rent a building in The Weirs for
use as a temporary headquarters.
Instead, said Oetinger, the LPD will use the
municipally owned Weirs Community Center to house
"Station W" for the duration of the rally.
The City Council began its deliberations by
reducing the proposed city budget by $300,000,
which reflects the savings in health insurance
that have materialized after the budget was
introduced in early March.
That reduction, according to City Manager
Eileen Cabanel, translates into a 20 cent
reduction per $1,000 of assessed valuation in the
city tax rate.
The city tax rate component had been forecast
to go up 58 cents to $7.68 per $1,000 of assessed
valuation; the county tax up 13 cents to $1.56;
the local school tax up $2.61 to $8.25, but the
statewide school tax would drop 82 cents to $2.90.
Cumulatively, the municipal budget as first
presented would have seen the overall tax rate
rise to $20.39 per $1,000 of assessed valuation,
up from $17.89 in 2003-04.
The council was divided in supporting private
agencies, defeating by a 4-3 vote a motion to give
the American Red Cross $6,564.
As he did on the Red Cross vote, Mayor Mark
Fraser also cast the deciding ballot against
eliminating all of the $2,500 that was to be
allocated to the Lakes Region Association; the
council later voted 4-2 to pare the request down
to $500.
Fraser was also the deciding vote in defeating
a measure to appropriate $20,000 to the Laconia
Rails with Trails program. Under the program, a
nine-mile long multi-use recreational path would
be built from Belmont to Meredith.
A motion to appropriate $15,000 to Genesis
Behavioral Health also failed by a -4-3 vote.
Throughout the deliberations, Fraser reminded
the City Council that until it votes on the grand
total appropriation at a future date, it could
still undo or alter any of the actions it took on
Monday.
The City Council continues its budget
deliberations on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Room 200A
at City Hall.
