SAUGUS — The Finance Committee made quick work of the Annual Town Meeting warrant Wednesday evening, voting to recommend 10 articles with financial implications.
The committee did not take up what is likely the most impactful financial article on the warrant, the annual budget, as the fiscal year 2024 sewer rate is not yet finalized. The remaining financial articles on the warrant generated minimal discussion from the committee, and all but one were unanimously recommended.
FinCom Chairman Ken DePatto said the brevity of the meeting was thanks in part to the work of Treasurer/Collector Wendy Hatch and her team in making sure his committee had the required paperwork and documentation.
DePatto said the straightforward articles helped the committee move through its business quickly.
The FinCom began with Article 3, which seeks $938,740 in supplemental appropriations for the current fiscal year’s budget. Roughly a third of the funds — $313,740 — were drawn from departmental salaries, including from the Town Manager’s office and the Accounting, Human Resources, and Fire departments. Those monies were allocated toward expenses in town departments, and to pay off unemployment benefits and insurance premium liabilities.
An additional $625,000 of free cash was directed toward snow and ice removal, under a Department of Revenue rule allowing municipalities to use funds to pay for the removal in the year the costs are incurred.
The committee then moved to Article 4, which seeks approval for transferring $50,000 of budget salaries for the water enterprise fund to expenses in the same department. Expenses were split between repair and maintenance for fences, and general, professional, and technical expenses.
Article 5, much like Article 4, seeks to allocate $23,000 in salaries for the sewer enterprise fund to expenses. Expenses are split between professional and technical technology, and flood insurance premiums.
The next article reviewed by the committee, Article 8, seeks to allocate $1,978 to bills of a prior year, which will require a 9/10 vote from Town Meeting. The bills are from The Advocate Newspapers, Essex Media Group (publishers of The Daily Item) and Valley Communications. The bills would be paid for with carryover funds from the fiscal year 2022 general fund.
“This is something that we do every year,” DePatto said.
“These are bills that just got missed,” added Town Manager Scott Crabtree.
The committee then recommended spending limits for a variety of departmental revolving funds, including $165,000 for the Youth & Recreation department, $47,000 for waste collection & recycling, $25,000 for the code enforcement backflow prevention revolving fund, $10,000 for the Council on Aging lunch program revolving fund, and $40,000 for the Council on Aging programs and renovations revolving fund.
Crabtree explained that the committee is no longer responsible for authorizing each fund individually, instead setting a cap for spending.
Article 11, which asks Town Meeting to appropriate $18,468 from available funds in the Transportation Infrastructure Fund, received a quick recommendation from the committee. DePatto explained that the money in the fund comes from Uber and Lyft and is typically used by the town for line painting.
Ridesharing companies are required to pay an assessment fee of 20 cents per ride for rides that originated in Saugus from the previous calendar year, under state law.
The committee also recommended Article 12, which asks Town Meeting to support a $968,800 borrowing authorization from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority at 0 percent interest.
Article 13 seeks an appropriation of $350,000 in free cash for construction and reconstruction of streets and sidewalks in town. The funds will be used for work on Atlantic Avenue, Alice Street, Kenwood Avenue, Stone Street, Mt. Ridgeway Road, Wonderland Avenue, Williams Avenue, Lake Street, and Zamora Street.
Crabtree said streets were selected from a master plan compiled by the town, and listed in order of priority.
Article 14 asks Town Meeting to allocate $150,000 in free cash to guard rail replacements throughout town, with several areas requiring replacement due to the existing structure being “old or not adequate or … damaged as a result of being struck by a vehicle.”
The final article reviewed by the committee, Article 15, is the only article that the committee did not vote unanimously to approve. Member Steve DiVirgilio voted against an allocation of $388,736.85 for Saugus Cable TV’s annual budget, which was approved by the Board of Selectmen last month.
While the Finance Committee sought additional information regarding potential carryover funds from the station’s fiscal year 2023 budget, DePatto said he was inclined to support the budget on the presumption that the Selectmen did their due diligence.
“It’s not for us to oversee their department, although it does fall on us and I feel very responsible about that,” DePatto said. “I don’t want to hold the committee up in getting our work done.”
The committee is set to reconvene on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to take up the town’s annual budget, which will then likely take center stage during a third session of Town Meeting the following Monday, May 15.
