It’s a very busy time of the year for our tri-town municipal offices that deal with budgets.
While capital-planning committees, finance committees, and select boards grapple with the fine details related to all things budget, many voters will be seeing budget spreadsheets for the first time – at Town Meeting. That is likely not enough time to digest the vast amount of data needed to make informed decisions.
In Mattapoisett approximately two weeks prior to Annual Town Meeting, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco will provide a deep-dive presentation that will cast light on expenses, revenue, the tax levy and a variety of other finance-related matters intended to give the voters all the data they will need, along with the opportunity to ask questions before addressing such matters at Town Meeting.
Lorenco and the Finance Committee (members Paul Amoruso, Brian Connelly, Kathleen Costello, Aaron Goldberg, Gary Johnson, Karen Keenan and Colby Rottler) have met throughout the winter with only one to two meetings remaining before the budget is presented to the Select Board for final review and acceptance.
When the Mattapoisett Finance Committee was about to begin its work, Lorenco led the group, now populated by several new members, through a tutorial of all things related to municipal finance. Beginning with the general fund, Lorenco said this consisted of monies collected from the town’s financial resources. Enterprise funds, Lorenco explained, consist of money collected from separate town services such as water and sewer, and subsidy is the action taken to assist the funding of an enterprise-fund account such as the town’s Transfer Station.
Lorenco went on to explain that the levy is the total property-tax collection for a fiscal year and, that Proposition 2.5 is the state law that limits the amount of revenue a municipality can raise from property taxes by establishing a levy limit. Excess capacity is the amount of levy left over after the budget is complete. Exclusion and overrides are increases to the levy limit.
An appropriation is authorization to spend by Town Meeting voters. New growth is additional tax revenue generated from construction projects. A BAN (or Bond Anticipation Note) is generally used for short-term borrowing. Free cash is revenue over-estimates and any unspent expense appropriations.
DOR is the state Department of Revenue, which oversees all things included in municipal finance, and the DLS (Division of Local Services) is part of DOR and provides valuable reporting to the public and municipal leaders.
Lorenco explained that the Finance Committee acts as a financial advisor to the Select Board and Town Meeting, provides recommendations to Town Meeting for annual budget appropriations, manages the town’s Reserve Fund and votes to disperse money from the fund when requested by the town administrator or town accountant for unforeseeable or extraordinary expenses.
Mattapoisett’s FY26 levy limit is $28,900,497, excluding debt ($1,343,380), and the maximum levy is $30,243,873.
Local receipts total at $1,964,000. Monies placed in stabilization accounts now hold $1,021,462 for the Capital Improvements Stabilization Fund, School District Stabilization Fund $376,647, SPED $224,433, Capital Debt Stabilization Fund $1,000,000, and Opioid Stabilization Fund $80,470.
The total FY26 Operating Budget that still needs Select Board acceptance is $35,362,275. The biggest departmental increase is 7% for the Police Department. Lorenco said the increase is intended to give officers parity with surrounding communities.
The Mattapoisett Finance Committee will be meeting again in the coming days; no date has been set, however. All town budgets are currently pending final review, and Lorenco said that public-school budgets are still pending.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell