After the first six months of the current fiscal year town finances are “trending well,” according to Finance Director Craig Rudolphy.

He told the Town Council on Feb. 4 that revenue is catching up with expenditures for the year, but “we are not quite there yet.” Rudolphy noted that the third quarter is usually the year’s best with winter visitors and, special events that give town revenues a boost.

Rudolphy reported that local sales tax revenues had increased by nearly five percent over a year ago, finally bringing that category back to the levels of the 2009 fiscal year.

State sales tax is 5.4 percent higher than a year ago, although state income tax revenue is down by half a percent.

State shared revenues in all categories are also ticking up at roughly two percent above a year ago.

In spite of the positive trend reported by Rudolphy, at least one council member does not believe it is good enough.

Councilman Alan Magazine told Rudolphy that he believes staff may be inadvertently presenting too rosy a picture of town finances.

“It is clear that expenditures are not what we think they need to be,” Magazine said.

“We need to be discussing potential shortfalls and going forward to address that.”

In a separate conversation with The Times, Magazine said the town is sending the wrong message and the citizens are not getting an accurate picture of the financial situation.

Magazine said the council needs to be more involved in making the decisions about what gets cut from the budget. The council has ultimate final approval of the budget, but it is primarily a staff document written based on general input from the council.

“It is critical that citizens get an accurate picture of finances,” Magazine said.

“The town is deteriorating due to lack of revenue.

“It may well get to the point where we shut the Fountain down once a week, close the Community Center for a day each week or cut park maintenance during the winter.

“There is the point where cutting services will be noticeable.”

Magazine said he believes the town is approaching a perfect storm.

“I’m frustrated that citizens do not know where we are, and I don’t know how to communicate it,” he said.

“I’m not afraid to say I support a primary property tax, but I don’t think the voters here will approve it.

“Were do we get the money?”

Magazine said he has had informal discussions with citizens and most believe the town already collects a primary property tax, which is not the case. All the town receives from residents’ annual tax bill is a relatively small amount to service debt on voter approved bonds.

The Town Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday this week, Feb. 11. This session is the annual retreat to discuss budget priorities for the next fiscal year that begins July 1. The session is planned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in council chambers. The public is welcome to sit in, but no action will be taken and council is not expected to hear any public comment.