Published in the May 1, 2018 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — It took 255 voters just over three hours last night to get through two articles on the 25-article Annual Town Meeting warrant, as attendees spent the bulk of that time discussing and voting on elements of the $95 million FY 2019 town budget under Article 1.

Also approved last night was nearly $2 million in capital outlay.

After a financial review by Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Sherman and some opening remarks by Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio, Town Meeting got down to business on Article 1, the FY 2018 budget.

Taking up broad categories of the budget separately as listed in the Annual Appropriations booklet, Maio began with the General Government portion of the budget, which includes the Selectmen’s Department budget ($350,594); the Accounting Department ($382,925); Information and Technology ($353,021); Treasurer ($202,875); Legal Department ($180,966); Tax Collector ($209,521); Assessors ($226,068); Town Clerk ($202,502); Election and Registration ($41,000); Election Expense ($44,500); Finance Committee ($7,060); Conservation Commission ($41,646); Planning Board ($12,975); and Board of Appeals ($25,300).

The total under General Government came to $2,368,953. But Sherman said that the Finance Committee felt that an $85,000 new position in the Selectmen’s Department for a Social Media Director should not have been added to the budget and recommended removing that position, bringing the General Government total down to $2,283,953. Sherman said that the FinCom felt that the money could be better applied to something else, such as roads.

Town Councilors Paul DiNocco, Ann Santos and Julie Smith-Galvin argued for retaining the Social Media Director position in the budget, saying that citizens had asked for an improved social media and web presence for the town.

Christoper Bossi of Outlook Road, a Wakefield Memorial High School senior, said that no one in his generation uses things like phone books to find information. They all look first online, so he favored retaining the social media position.

FinCom member Gerard Leeman said that the $85,000 salary was double that of similar positions that he found in his research. He said that people want town roads improved and the FinCom felt that if it was going to add money for roads it should cut elsewhere.

Robert Mitchell agreed and said he would like to see the town step away from social media and fix the roads.

Christine Defelice wanted to know the real cost of the position, including benefits. Sherman said that benefits would add another $20,000 to $25,000.

Ultimately Town Meeting approved the full budget amount with the social media position intact.

Town Meeting approved the $11,555,205 budget for Protection of Persons and Property with no discussion from the floor. The two largest components of this budget were Police ($5,710,415) and the Fire Department ($5,311,458). Other departments funded under this category include Fire Alarm and Traffic Signals, Emergency management, Building Department, Sealer of Weights and measures, Animal Inspector and Parking Clerk.

Voters approved the Human Services budget at $818,012 with no discussion. Departments under this category include the Council on Aging ($234,445), Health Department ($239,472), Recreation Department ($100,588) and Veterans Department ($243,507).

Next up was the $6,512,218 Public Works Department budget.

Elm Street’s Daniel Lieber proposed an amendment to add $100,000 to this budget for roadway improvements. When put to a vote, the larger amount failed and the original amount was approved by Town Meeting.

Also approved with no discussion were the two self-sufficient Public Works Enterprise departments, the Water ($5,008,316) and Sewer ($8,224,561) divisions.

School Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith presented the School Department budget at $40,143,324, a 5.54 percent increase over last year. Smith explained that a significant portion of this increase stemmed from unexpected out of district special education placements. She also cited the state’s failure to meet its obligations to fully fund the Special Education Circuit breaker reimbursement.

Water Street’s Marc Luca advocated funding the budget in the same amount but in a different manner, placing some money in reserve funds that would be scrutinized by the FinCom. He also criticized the way that the School Department budget was presented in the Appropriations booklet. He noted that there were only four broad line items shown, whereas other town budgets are broken down in greater detail.

Bronwyn Della-Volpe of Cyrus Street reminded Town Meeting of the expectation that the School Department would keep its budget increases at or below 4 percent after it received an 11.4 percent increase in FY 2016. She noted that the School Department had exceeded that 4 percent this year and last year.

Smith reiterated that it was unanticipated SPED costs that ticked the amount over 4 percent. But Deborah Butler of Main Street pointed out that labor contracts were in fact what brought this year’s increase over 4 percent.

Ultimately, Town Meeting approved the School Department budget as presented.

Town Meeting then approved the $1,625,472 Library budget, the $1,227,468 Vocational School Budget, the $1,659,631 “Unclassified” budget and the $16,638,911 Benefits and Administration budget, all with no discussion or questions from the floor.

Town Meeting also approved the transfer of $1,997,644 from Light Department receipts, $168,750 from Sewer Division receipts and $112,982 from Water Division receipts to pay pension, health insurance and other benefits for employees of those departments.

Moving on to Article 2, Capital Planning Committee Chairman Shaun Margerison presented the $1,997,644 in tax levy-supported Capital Outlay as well as the $168,750 for Sewer Division capital and $112,982 for Water Division capital projects.

Magerison reviewed the items recommended in the tax levy-funded section, including three new police cruisers, vehicle and equipment replacements for the DPW, a new bucket truck for the Fire Department, window work  and HVAC replacement at the High School along with facilities improvements and equipment replacement at other schools and town-owned buildings.

Christine DeFelice of Lawrence Street proposed an amendment to remove $40,000 for cemetery road improvements and asked that those funds be put toward fixing the public roadways. After some discussion, the entire capital budget under Article 2 was approved as presented.

Town Meeting was adjourned just after 10 p.m. It will pick up with Article 3 on Monday, May 7 at 7 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Galvin Middle School.