By Dawn De Busk

While Windham residents have been catching snippets of the congressional hearings on whether or not to provide a multi-million dollar financial bailout for America’s “big three” automakers, Windham Town Manager Tony Plante has been calculating the drop in the town’s excise tax revenue and how that might impact town services.

“It’s our single largest non-property tax source of revenue. It helps pay for town services,” Plante told the Windham Town Council on Tuesday.

“This is one revenue we pay attention to very closely,” Plante said, of the tax the town receives through the registration of vehicles based on their value.

Plante predicts by the end of the fiscal year, the town will likely face a revenue shortfall between $700,000

and $750,000.

For the month of October, the excise tax was down $61,000 from October 2007, he said.

According to the town charter, when there is a revenue shortfall on the horizon, the town manager must report it to the town council, inform the council of remedial action that has taken place, and then work on additional strategies to counter the shortfall, Plante said.

Some of his immediate fixes have been to announce last week a freeze on spending to all his department heads.

“I’ve put a hold on any new capital purchases,” Plante said.

He added that Public Works Director Doug Fortier had been preparing several purchase proposals for the council’s review, but those

expenditures will be put on hold.

Any leftover money from the road resurfacing fund won’t go back into that fund, but will be used to cover the shortfall, Plante said.

In addition, Plante said the town will not fill vacant positions – except for those already going through the hiring process including a public safety officer and a full-time seasonal driver who was hired for wintertime duties in the public works department.

Councilor Donna Chapman asked Plante if the town might consider going to a four-day workweek like the Town of Gray has.

He said that might be an option, but it certainly hasn’t been decided.

Councilor Liz Wisecup advocated for cutting back on town employees’ hours rather than laying those people off. She said eliminating jobs would

have a much more negative effect on families than giving people fewer hours and a slightly smaller paycheck.

Chair Carol Waig said she didn’t object to town employees’ hours being scaled back to 32 a week.

Plante said the council, which will soon start the budget-planning process, will have to consider cuts in programs and services in the 2009-10 budget to make up for the revenue shortfall.

“People are not buying as many new cars, and people are deferring major purchases of almost every kind. This is fairly normal consumer behavior during downturn in economy,” Plante said. “This is not unique to Windham. We have seen this all across the country.”