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Politics & Government

Ciarrocca: Town Budget Likely in Two Weeks

No word on any job cuts to reduce spending

The Town Council should have a budget to review by the end of the month.

"Hopefully we'll be able to go over a budget two weeks from tonight," Councilman Mark Ciarrocca said Tuesday, at the Council's conference meeting.

Officials have been trying to grapple with a cut in state aid of more than $940,000, without raising taxes much. In budget updates since January, Ciarrocca, the finance committee chairman, said his panel has been meeting regularly to review every line item in the budget.

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"It's pretty good timing for what you've been under," said Councilman James Foerst.

A final town budget proposal has always been expected in May.

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Among the areas where the council is considering cutting costs is by reducing the number of crossing guards in the town, possibly to replace some with volunteers. Last week, during the annual crossing guard recognition ceremony, Councilwoman Joann Neylan, tried to tone down the town wide discussions over the potential crossing guard cuts by stressing the Council does not want to make those types of cuts.

Earlier this year, Ciarrocca and Neylan announced that the Council's public safety committee, chaired by Neylan, would be conducted an analysis about Westfield's crossing guard stations, which presently numbers 57, the highest number in the county.

Ciarrocca said last week that Westfield will likely to need to cut employees in all town departments to balance its budget. In previous budget reports, Ciarrocca noted the town has implemented a hiring freeze and other discretionary spending freezes in order to deal with the projected revenue shortfalls.

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