Plainville Select Board faces $409,000 projected gap in preliminary FY23 budget

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- March 14, 2022, Plainville Select Board opens fiscal year 2023 budget season with a projected $409,000 deficit. Town Administrator Brian Noble presented preliminary figures Monday showing $39,453,000 in projected revenue against $39,863,000 in projected expenditures at a level-services baseline with a 3 percent placeholder for school spending. Key cost drivers include a $378,000 increase in the King Philip Regional school assessment, a $174,000 jump in the Norfolk County Retirement assessment, a $108,000 rise in the emergency communications center fee, and several newly proposed budget lines covering compensated employee balances, consulting services, and expanded cybersecurity. Noble said he does not intend to use any of the town's $1,805,000 in free cash to close the gap and called the shortfall "not unexpected" at this stage. The board also voted unanimously to rename a paper road from Wampum Street 2 to Mallard Lane to eliminate a duplicate street name, appointed Karen Speedwack to a five-year tenant board seat on the Plainville Housing Authority, and received a PFAS update from DPW Director Dennis Morgan confirming Plainville's water meets state standards while North Attleborough's remediation system is expected online by summer 2022.