“Collaboration” and “communication” seemed to be the words on everyone’s lips Wednesday, Sept. 28, as volunteers and staff of 22 town boards and departments met virtually to share their goals for the coming year.
The annual gathering traditionally marks the beginning of budget season and provides attentive taxpayers hints of what to expect in the budget requests due the Finance Committee in two months.
For the third straight year, the participants convened via Zoom. The two-hour meeting was bracketed by presentations by the Select Board, Finance Department, and Finance Committee, the first laying out its goals for the current fiscal year and the latter explaining what’s expected in the budget requests for fiscal 2024 that are due Dec. 1. Boards and departments look to the Finance Department for a preview of fiscal 2024 revenues and expenses, but that’s always a work in progress at this time of year.
The Select Board, committees, and departments were limited to five minutes apiece to make their pitches, but as they explained their goals for the current year and looked to the future, the need for collaboration and communication was unmistakable. Collaboration will be needed, for example, to reduce the town’s use of oil and gas, to do better at scheduling athletic fields, or hiring a grant writer to help find federal and state money to pay for urgent projects. The long-running effort to conclude a memo of understanding among the schools, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Department of Public Works on maintenance of the town’s athletic fields will be impossible unless the three departments can find a way to share resources.
Department heads and committee chairs also pleaded for better communication among town organizations—and with the public—to avoid conflicts among their groups and to smooth the rollout of new initiatives, especially changes to the town bylaws. Kerri Green of the Agricultural Advisory Commission, for example, urged the Select and Planning boards to include her committee in discussions of bylaws affecting the town’s farms. And Davida Bagatelle of the Disabilities Commission noted that a report due this year on the unmet needs of Harvard’s disabled will require the attention of the COA, Permanent Building Committee, and other organizations.
The one surprise of the evening was the announcement by Stacie Green, a member of the Library Trustees, that the library is planning to build an outdoor pavilion this year, funded entirely by money from the Library Trust and an unknown benefactor. Noting the growing popularity of outdoor activities at the library, she said the new structure would provide more options than the tents currently in use on the grounds of the library.
Select Board Chair Rich Maiore led this year’s meeting, kicking it off with a recitation of the board’s five fiscal 2023 goals and 15 subgoals. (Go to the Select Board page on the Harvard town website for a complete list.) He said the board had tried to set goals that were “more specific and less lofty” in stating what members aimed to achieve over the next nine months.
Topping the Select Board’s list is a three-phase plan to increase and balance the number of playing fields in town, beginning with the conversion of a Ryan Land field for softball use this coming spring, followed by a search for land that could be acquired for yet more fields. Last on the Select Board’s list: “Improve [the Select Board’s] leadership and collaboration with various boards and committees.” No means of measuring success, however, was provided.
The meeting ended with a plea by Finance Committee Chair Jennifer Finch for boards and departments to submit their fiscal 2024 budget requests on time, reminding them that a narrative contextualizing each request was as important as the numbers for personnel and expenses.
Finance Department Director Jared Mullane echoed Finch, while providing a first look at next year’s revenue and expenses. Over the summer, Mullane, Town Administrator Tim Bragan, and Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro reviewed expected revenues and assessments for the next five years and released a detailed report at last week’s Finance Committee meeting. The Press will take a closer look at these projections in next week’s paper.
Currently the town projects that revenues will total approximately $31.8 million this fiscal year and $32.6 million in fiscal 2024, an increase of 2.5%. More than 80% of the town’s money is provided by property taxes.
The budget projection for this fiscal year continues to predict a $191,531 surplus, followed by a $101,723 deficit in fiscal 2024. But these numbers are in flux and will shift in coming weeks. State law requires the Finance Committee and the Select Board to deliver a balanced budget.
“I can’t help but feel inspired by this collective commitment and the smart creative thinking that we’ve heard tonight,” declared Maiore as he brought the meeting to a close. “Moving forward, we continue to want you—to expect you—to communicate, coordinate, collaborate,” and do it “earlier rather than later,” he said.
