Coming before the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on March 11 was Fire Chief Andrew Murray to review and discuss his department’s FY22 budget. As he had when recently meeting with the Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning Committee, Murray pointed out that he wants to restore the full-time administration position that he said had been removed just before last spring’s Town Meeting.
Murray said that there would be continuity in duties by having a dedicated administrative clerk, and the position would also cover dispatching responsibilities during weekdays. Murray said that if the full-time position was reestablished, he could reduce the on-call budget by $10,000. That line item currently stands at $14,000. All other budget items are level-funded, he said, with a roughly 2-percent step increase for personnel.
One budget item that will grow due to the new fire station is one titled “buildings and grounds.” Murray said that while the staff takes care of such maintenance needs as painting and grass cutting, other areas require maintenance contracts such as the garage doors. He increased the budget for those areas of the new structure and grounds from $7,000 to $12,000.
Touching on Capital Planning needs, Murray shared concerns that Engine 4 will need to be replaced in FY22, although it currently sits in the column for FY23. He explained the deterioration of the aging fire apparatus, saying, “It has outlived its life expectancy by 10 years,” and due to the care it had received throughout the years, it has lasted until now. “We take good care of our equipment.”
Murray said, at the request of Capital Planning, he was in the process of establishing a committee to begin the research and cost-estimating process needed to advance the potential purchase during a Fall Town Meeting. Currently, he estimates a new engine at $525,000 and added, “Because our current station couldn’t fit a new engine, we had to wait this long.” It could take more than a year to bring a new fire engine to the department if voters approve the purchase, it was noted.
The balance of the meeting focused on the overall FY22 operating budget draft presented by Town Administrator Mike Lorenco.
Lorenco went department by department, nearly line by line, pointing out areas of increase or savings, line items new to the spreadsheet, and areas that could be removed or added to other areas, all in an effort to create a more thorough and comprehensive budget in step with the town’s growth.
As discussions turned to schools, Lorenco again railed against an assessment being requested by Bristol County Agricultural High School for a new building. He said the towns had had no say in incurring the debt, were never notified, and that he planned to have a discussion with the county commissioners who oversee the school’s actions. He said that Mattapoisett is facing a $24,000 assessment based on four students at $6,000 each. But he said neighboring town Rochester was facing far more, a whopping $80,000. “I’m not budgeting that until I get answers,” he assured the committee.
Other school line items on the draft budget are: local schools at $7,9l7,l70 versus FY21 at $7,667,725; Old Rochester Regional School District FY21 at $6,350,727 versus FY22 at $7,665,725; and Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School at $836,989 versus FY21 at $678,841. Lorenco commented that schools absorb more than 4 percent of the town’s total budget; therefore, looking at decreasing enrollment needs further study. He expressed concern about a greater tax burden on property owners.
Regarding the upcoming election of a new highway surveyor, Lorenco said that Mattapoisett is one of a handful of towns in the commonwealth that still has an elected highway surveyor and that nearly all towns have departments of public works. Having said that, he feels that an incoming surveyor with less experience should also receive compensation commensurate to her or his degree of expertise. Lorenco suggested a starting salary of $75,000. He also said he would be reviewing salary guidelines after a review of other towns with elected surveyors.
Lorenco touched on the Other Post-Employment Benefits category (OPEB) and said the town’s expected FY22 payout as mandated by the Plymouth County Retirement Board is $182,387 based on a total debt of $1,494,792 versus FY21 at $1,312,405. He said he is required to pay whatever the department assesses.
On March 10, the Capital Planning Committee met with Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh, who reviewed such matters as grants received for improvements to Long Wharf totaling $216,000 with a required municipal match of $54,000 in FY22. He said that $75,000 was placed in FY23 for repairs and improvements to floating docks.
McIntosh also discussed a $30,000 grant executed by Urban Harbors Institute that he wishes to pursue for a harbor-management plan. He confessed that the selectmen had not fully supported the study but believed such a document would help position the town when pursuing grants in the future. He also said it would help to establish gaps in regulatory compliance that could then be addressed. He said the town has never had a fully drafted harbor management plan and hopes to present this request at a Fall Town Meeting.
McIntosh said that the selectmen were also not overly supportive of a new harbormaster’s office that he had plugged into a future column as far out as a decade from now. He said that, while the current building serves its purpose, it does not have restroom facilities or adequate heating for a full-time harbormaster.
Lorenco pointed out the importance of having everything listed on the Capital Planning spreadsheet, not only for fiscal insights but also for Town Meeting voting purposes, “If it isn’t on the list, it would require a two-thirds majority to fund in the same year,” he said.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, March 24, at 6:00 pm, and the next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17, at 4:00 pm.
Mattapoisett Finance and Capital Planning Committees
By Marilou Newell