Members of the Finance Committee gathered Tuesday—fiscal doctors in a fiscal intensive care unit—to ponder treatment of the projected $1.2 million gap between town revenue and expenses in next fiscal year’s fevered budget.
There was one bit of good news. The School Committee’s decision this week to increase certain fees and defer purchase of new iPads for fifth-graders reduced the schools request for fiscal 2026 by $70,000, lowering what had been a projected $1.3 million deficit to $1.2 million.
The seven-member committee has two weeks to prepare a recommendation for the Select Board and, barring unforeseen changes in other areas of the budget, has two choices: cut expenses, increase revenue—or some combination of the two
Among the members present at Tuesday’s meeting there seemed to be a consensus that deep cuts are not the answer. Budgeting to maintain the town’s municipal services at their current level when salaries and the cost of benefits is rising faster than town revenues is simply not possible without cuts to existing personnel. Several members suggested that a budget that denied requests for additional personnel in some departments could be viewed as cuts to level service.
“Across the board, this town is understaffed and underserviced for what it really should have, in my opinion,” said Bob Thurston. “If you look around town, look at what we seriously should have for services for this community, we’re starting below where we should be,” Thurston said. “The fact that we don’t have two full-time police [officers on every shift] is a little absurd.”
Town Administrator Dan Nason echoed Thurston’s concerns. The reality, he said, is that the additional staff that departments and the schools have requested will have less impact on the town’s projected $38.2 million in spending than other factors beyond the town’s control, such as the projected 10% increase in pension costs and stagnant state aid. He recommended that departmental requests such as those for a full-time Department of Public Works administrative assistant, extra police officer, and special ed teacher for the schools be kept. Cutting them, he cautioned, would not produce what he would consider a level-service budget. “I don’t see it as level service; I see that as actually a cut to what’s … needed.”
In the absence of cuts, the committee’s only tool to raise revenue in the short term without borrowing is to raise the total amount collected from taxpayers more than the 2.5% annual increase permitted by Proposition 2½. Last year, voters approved a $424,000 tax override, but rejected the full $753,000 that would have been required to pay for the full budget approved at Town Meeting.
Choosing among three budgets
This year’s board seems inclined to take a similar two-tiered approach. At Tuesday’s meeting, newly elected Chair Mike Derse, stepping up to replace departing chair Eric Ward, asked Finance Director Jared Mullane to prepare three budgets for FinCom’s review when they next meet Feb. 25, the same day the committee must vote on a recommendation to send to the Select Board.
"… the reality is we are going to need overrides year after year, regardless of what happens this year."
—Town Administrator Dan Nason
The first, Derse said, should list the cuts that would be necessary to keep spending within the estimated $28.8 million tax levy available without an override. The second budget, he said, should show the items that departments and schools say are necessary to provide level services, including requests for additional personnel. Thurston and Noyan Kinayman asked Mullane and the departments to prioritize requests for additional spending so the committee can pick and choose those it considers necessary and those that can be deferred.
Finally, for the third budget, Derse asked to see a prioritized list of what would be gained if taxpayers agreed to shoulder the entire $1.2 million deficit and pay for everything town departments and the schools have requested. Though no vote was taken, Derse’s request appeared to have the full support of the five members present for the discussion.
The committee’s request also had the backing of Select Board Chair Don Ludwig, also present for the meeting. “I think there are certain services that need to be in there in order to be able to call it … level service,” he said. “And then you’ve got to look at all the additional [requests] and just rank them and vote them on merit. And if we can get by without them, we take that number out. If we can’t, then we go forward and present the override number and feel good we’ve done everything we could to minimize it.”
“I think that the reality is we are going to need overrides year after year, regardless of what happens this year,” Nason told the committee. The only way out of the situation is through new growth in the town, “although it comes with a lot of hesitation and pushback from certain individuals,” he said. “I think that’s the only way we can get beyond this. And it’s not going to take one or two years. It’s going to take much longer than that.”
