LIVERMORE — Administrative Assistant Carrie Castonguay has asked the Board of Selectpersons to brainstorm some ideas to find needed savings in the Office Administrative Department.

The department is over budget and a remedy needs to be implemented, she said Monday.

She hopes the board brings back a solution at the 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12, meeting at the Town Office.

The budget for the department for 2014-15 is $132,452.50. As of Dec. 29, the amount expended is $69,702.48 or 52.62 percent, according to Castonguay’s spreadsheet.

After former Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub left last April to become the Turner town manager, selectpersons voted April 7, 2014, to increase compensation for other workers in the office who temporarily pick up some of those duties.

The board approved a $5-an-hour increase for Town Clerk Renda Guild to make her hourly wage $21.88 an hour to pick up Schaub’s administrative assistant duties.

Administrative clerk Jean Tardif received a $2.76-an-hour increase to make her hourly wage $15 to do town clerk duties.

Amy Byron became the interim treasurer and tax collector with the wage going from $10.22 an hour to $15. Byron filled in for Schaub, who also had been the treasurer for the town. Byron was elected to the two-year position in June.

The budgeted amount for the town clerk was $32,625. As of Dec. 29, $19,994.05 was spent, or 61.28 percent of the budgeted amount, Castonguay’s information shows.

The amount for deputy clerk/administrative clerk is $23,446, of which $12,586 has been spent as of last week, or 53.60 percent of the budgeted amount.

The town budgeted $8,840 for the treasurer for 10 hours a week, Castonguay said. As of Dec. 29, $11,861.75 was spent or 134.18 percent, she said.

The treasurer worked full time until October, she said.

Also showing more than half of the budgeted amount spent is the registrar of voters line. Castonguay’s spreadsheet shows $1,410 was budgeted and $1,480.80, or 105.02 percent of the budgeted amount, was spent so far.

Most of the remainder of the administrative budget is on target with 50 percent of the individual budgets being spent. The amount budgeted for the select board is $12,500 and half of that, or $6,250, has been spent.

The office temporary position is under budget with $4,494 budgeted and only 13.89 percent spent.

The amount budgeted for the administrative assistant position is $47,567 and $16,150, or 33.94 percent of it, has been spent.

However, Castonguay did not start work as the new administrative assistant until Aug. 18.

In another matter, Castonguay said the audit revealed an error in the calculation of the tax commitment but it was also discovered that some expenses had been duplicated.

“We didn’t take into account $157,000,” when doing the tax commitment and setting the tax rate at $14.30 per $1,000 of value for the 2014-15 year, she said. The rate was set during her first week on the job.

Some of the duplicated expenses will help offset the $157,000, she said. Any amount that cannot be covered under the current budget will go before voters to consider the transfer of the remaining the funds from the undesignated fund balance.

dperry@sunjournal.com