Town Meeting OK’s FY 2021 town budget

Published in the June 23, 2020 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA 

WAKEFIELD — Voters approved the $104,695,276 FY 2021 town operating budget during a marathon Annual Town Meeting session on Saturday at the Wakefield Memorial High School Field House. Each broad section of the budget was taken up and voted separately as presented by Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio.

The budget as presented included cuts made to various departments as a result of anticipated revenue shortfalls due to the coronavirus shutdown.

The General Government section of the budget totaled $2,445,958 and included the budgets for the Town Council, the Accounting Department, then IT Department, the Town Treasurer, the Legal Department, the Tax Collector, the Assessors Department, the Town Clerk’s Office,  the Finance Committee, the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board.

There was some discussion of an Economic Development Director in the Town Council’s budget. The Town Council had voted by a narrow 4-3 margin to fund the position, although Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio had recommended holding off in light of expected budget shortfalls due to the COVID-19 shutdown.

Finance Committee Chairman Dan Sherman made a motion to amend the motion under General Government and cut the $95,000 position, noting that the Finance Committee had voted 9-6 to remove the position from next year’s budget. 

Town Councilor Jonathan Chines argued for keeping the position on the budget, pointing out that it was not a net new position but a reconstituted version of the Town Planner position. He maintained that it was especially important to fund this job as businesses are currently struggling.

Town Councilors Paul DiNocco, Mehreen Butt and Julie Smith-Galvin also argued for keeping the position in the budget.

Councilor Ed Dombroski and Town Council Chairman Ann Santos maintained that waiting to fill this position was the prudent move in light of budget shortfalls. Dombroski said that it would be a “double standard” for the Town Council to not cut its own budget while insisting that other departments cut theirs. 

Several residents also spoke from the floor in favor of retaining the position, and Sherman’s amendment to cut the position failed.

The General Government portion of the budget passed with the Economic Development Director position included.

The $12,223,802 Protections of Persons and Property budget encompassed funding for the Police Department ($5,922,655), the Fire Department ($5,706,306), Fire Alarm and Traffic Signals ($63,515), Emergency Management ($74,200) the Building Department ($364,218) the Animal Inspector ($83,533) and the Parking Clerk ($9,375).

The only discussion of this portion of the budget came from Line Road resident Dennis Cloherty, who proposed an amendment to reduce the Police Department from 47 officers to 44 by eliminating the School Resource Officers at the high school, the middle school and Northeast Metro Tech. Cloherty’s amendment failed to get a second and went nowhere.

Voters went on to approve the Protection of Persons and Property budget for FY 2021.

Maio next presented the $872,841 Human Services portion of the budget, which includes the Council on Aging ($250,630), the Health Department ($269,040), the Recreation Department ($106,734) and the Veterans Department ($246,437). The Human Services budget carried with no discussion from the floor.

The tax levy portion of the FY 2021 Public Works Department budget, in the amount of $7,089,368, also passed with no discussion. The self-sustaining Public Works Enterprise Department, including the Water Division ($6,061,942) and the Sewer Division ($8,956,011) passed without any discussion from the floor.

School Superintendent Douglas Lyons presented the $43,691,659 FY 2021 School Department budget, which was approved with no discussion.

There was also no discussion prior to Town Meeting approval of the $1,729,056 Library Department budget.

Maio noted that the $1,574,273 FY 2021 Vocational School budget was up $132,538 due to an increased number of students attending these regional schools. The Vocational School budget passed with no discussion.

The “Unclassified” section of the town budget includes, street lights, the Historical Commission, General Insurance, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, the Reserve Fund and Cable TV Public Access Enterprise (funded through franchises fees paid by the cable providers). The total Unclassified budget of $2,336,776 was approved.

The Benefits and Administration budget, including Group Health Insurance ($11,558,291), the Retirement System ($5,396,407) and Workers Compensation ($477,873) was approved with no discussion in the amount of $17,618,590.

Town Meeting also approved various amounts from the Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department to fund various benefits for Light Department employees as those are not part of the tax levy.