Shirley town council approves 2017 budget

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SHIRLEY — The Shirley Town Council approved the town’s 2017 budget, including changes that preserve a part-time position in town hall.

Shirley officials had suggested cutting the part-time utility department position, a cost-saving measure in addition included in a plan that also calls for reducing police services and charging Shirley residents for trash pickup, after learning the town would end the year with a deficit in its $492,000 general fund, which is used to pay daily operating expenses.

Instead, the approved 2017 budget reduces utility administrator Phyllis Hedrick’s hours from 35 to 16 hours a week and increases assistant Nikki Alexander’s hours to 20 a week, for a total yearly cost of $24,238.