By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Director John Tomasz unveiled the DPW’s proposed operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2024 during last week’s Select Board meeting.

Tomasz is looking to receive an $8,424,426 operating budget for FY24, which represents a 6.98 percent increase over FY23’s $7,875,127 spending plan.

“If you like last year’s budget, this one is pretty close to the same,” said Tomasz.

Tomasz appropriated $2,946,776 for the DPW’s 43 employees’ salaries. He noted that DPW employees will be receiving a 2 percent raise in FY24.

“The total labor cost for salaries, longevity, licenses and clothing is $3,087,726,” Tomasz wrote in an email sent to the Villager.

Tomasz has budgeted $940,000 for the school bus contract, which is 12.6 percent higher than FY23’s $834,750 appropriation.

“When I submitted my budget last year, I anticipated a 5 percent increase when we were going to go out to bid for the buses,” said Tomasz. “It came in at 18 percent. The increase in the buses reflects catching up to last year’s cost as well as this year’s additional cost.”

Tomasz has also budgeted $219,600 for electricity costs, which represents a 20 percent increase over FY23’s $183,000 appropriation. He also budgeted a 20 percent increase for heating costs, totaling $15,600. He also budgeted a 20 percent increase for fuel, gas and oil costs, equaling $150,000.

“The costs for electricity, heating and fuel have gone up quite a bit,” said Tomasz. “Even with the ESCO (energy service company) program, which is going save us a significant amount of money, there is still going to be an increase in costs. If we did not have the ESCO program, that 20 percent would have been another 40 to 50 percent more.”

Select Board Chairman Phil Crawford said he was “very happy” the ESCO program is saving the town money.

“It’s working out quite well,” said Tomasz.

Tomasz has budgeted $402,000 for trash collection and $198,000 for recycling collection in in FY24. He informed the Villager that he budgeted $380,000 for trash collection and $187,000 for recycling collection in FY23.

“We had a big increase last year, but the next three years are going to be very reasonable,” said Tomasz during the Select Board meeting. “Everything will be pretty steady moving forward.”

While Tomasz originally budgeted three bus drivers who work for the town in FY24, he said one of the drivers will be removed from the budget request. In the wake of the $63.5 million public safety buildings and Town Hall project getting underway later this year, Tomasz said the DPW will not be spending any funds on maintaining Town Hall because the building will be vacant while it gets renovated.

“I will be spending that money at different locations around town,” said Tomasz.

Tomasz acknowledged that 13 out of the DPW’s 43 employees are age 65 or older.

“That is quite a bit,” said Tomasz. “There is going to be a huge turnover that will probably be starting in two years. There is a storm brewing out there that we are eventually going to have to face.”

Capital budget

After Tomasz gave an overview of the proposed DPW’s operating budget, he discussed the recommended $902,560 capital budget for FY24.

Similar to previous years, Tomasz has requested $500,000 for the road construction program.

“This request represents the ongoing program of road construction, which was started a few years ago and has been very effective in addressing the condition of the many streets in need of repair,” Tomasz stated in a capital budget memo.

Tomasz noted that the road construction funds appropriated at each Spring Town Meeting, coupled with Chapter 90 funds from the state, has allowed the DPW to pave between five and eight streets each year.

Town Administrator Rob Dolan said the road construction appropriation will be “adjusted” once the town’s capital budget for FY24 is finalized.

“We have a goal of hitting $1 million, which will be the largest amount the town has ever contributed to road construction in history,” said Dolan.

Tomasz said the town has leftover funds from FY23’s road construction appropriation that will be spent this spring.

“Our goal is to start in May and June, and keep going,” said Tomasz. “What happened before was we would get a late start in July because that is when the money came in. But by then, the contractors have already committed to other cities and towns. We are trying to grab them early so we can get the streets done sooner.”

Crawford expressed his support for “putting as much money” into road construction as possible.

In response to a question from Select Board member Dick Dalton, Dolan said the town allocated $1.2 million for road construction in FY23. He said the town’s contractor, D&R Paving, has been very responsive.

“We never had a steady contractor that we could count on every year,” said Dolan. “We now have a steady contractor who puts us first. That makes all the difference.”

Tomasz submitted a $50,000 request to finish repairing the air pipes for Lynnfield High School’s septic system.

“At the 2022 Fall Town Meeting, $75,000 was appropriated to replace the seven air lines which were leaking and which are a vital component of the LHS septic system,” Tomasz stated. “The cost to replace the lines not within the parking lot was over $41,400. It appears there is still pipe leaking, which must be under the parking lot. The request, along with the balance from last year’s work, should cover the cost to complete the replacement of these lines.”

Dalton asked Tomasz if fixing the LHS septic system would “eliminate the horrific odor in the parking lot.”

“When it comes to sewer, I will never make that promise, but it should reduce it quite a bit,” said Tomasz.

Tomasz has requested $20,000 for the second year of the five-year payment for a school bus.

“In 2016, the town approved a capital request to replace two of the four existing large buses,” Tomasz stated. “This request continues the bus replacement process as one of the two remaining buses is presently out of service and needs to be replaced.”

Tomasz submitted a $50,000 request for a new Ford F-150 pickup truck.

“At this time, the department has two pickup trucks with over 200,000 miles and which continue to need repairs,” stated Tomasz. “The concern is that over the next 18 months, one of these vehicles will need to be replaced.”

Tomasz has requested two Karcher Chariot 1 Gloss Floor Burnishers, equaling $25,240.

“This request would provide for burnishers at the schools that would replace 20-year-old units,” Tomasz stated. “These burnishers allow the custodians to perform a high-speed floor finish and provide a good shine.”

Tomasz submitted a request for two Karcher Chariot 1 Auto Scrubbers, totaling $22,320.

“This request would provide for scrubbers at the schools and would replace 20-year-old units,” Tomasz wrote in a budget memo. “These scrubbers allow the custodians to perform a high-speed top-scrubbing and chemical-free finish of the floors.”

Tomasz has requested $125,000 to replace the Lynnfield Public Library’s roof.

“The roof shingles and rubber at the library are approaching the condition where they will need to be replaced,” Tomasz stated. “

Tomasz submitted an $110,000 request to replace a large rack dump truck.

“This truck is approximately 20-years-old, and rust is becoming a concern,” Tomasz stated. “The truck is used for plowing and most of the divisions for trash, hauling and moving sports-related equipment.”