The Select Board heard the fiscal year 2026 budget requests from several town departments Tuesday night, and emphasis was placed on providing level service and asking for only the most urgently needed equipment and personnel.

Urged to tighten their belts, several departments were able to offset their budget requests through collaboration with other departments or reductions in expenses. But some proposed projects, particularly for the Department of Public Works, are at a critical stage where Select Board members agreed funding is necessary.

DPW, Health, Parks & Rec present acute needs

DPW Director Kerry Reed made several requests for equipment needs. She said while four of these requests had been approved at the 2024 Annual Town Meeting, there wasn’t money to cover them all.

Two new pickup trucks were approved, but Reed said she was told “they were not valid votes.” One of the trucks that was slated for replacement failed its inspection in February. Another new truck is needed as well.

Another previously approved project was $100,000 for the town’s water main line flushing program. The other was for an engineering study for Grove Street Water Tank 1, which the state said the town must address because of its deterioration.

Finance Director Kyla LaPierre further explained that the town “did not have enough retained earnings to do all four projects,” and the state’s Department of Revenue would not let the town “pick and choose” projects to complete, so all “became null and void.” Money for these four projects may need to be borrowed from free cash.

Capital requests under the general fund included the replacement of one dump truck for $411,000 and the body replacement for a second one for $125,000. The current dump trucks are 14 and 16 years old, respectively. The 11-year-old trackless tractor, Reed said, is “no longer functional” and needs to be replaced at a cost of $245,800. These vehicles are critical for snow and ice removal and maintaining town properties.

In addition, the screen system replacement at the Fruit Street water treatment facility needs to be replaced for $465,000 from the sewer enterprise fund in order to meet state regulations. A sewer main replacement design for Wood Street for $350,000 also will come from this fund.

Health Director Shaun McAuliffe requested a budget of $570,151 for the Health Department. While this is a 14% increase, he explained that it will fund the salaries of up to two per diem nurses.

“Our regulatory duties over the last year have increased significantly,” he said, which the nurses can help the department fulfill. They include the resumption of vaccination and health care services and community education programming. McAuliffe said this should lead to an overall reduction in the community disease rate and allow the department to meet state regulations.

He stressed the importance of maintaining funding for the VaxCare contract, which allows the company to take a share of the department’s revenue rather than purchase vaccines up front. The budget also includes money to maintain the department’s contract with Metro Community Development Corporation (MCDC) to prevent hoarding, allowing seniors to remain in their homes by hazard-proofing them and making them better accessible for emergency responders.

Parks & Recreation Department Director Jon Lewitus made a capital request of $472,108 to pave the Sandy Beach parking lot as part of his budget requests. He noted the project began in 2014 but never was completed when funding ran out. Since then, it has deteriorated to the point where the potholes have created a safety issue.

The one request Lewitus did not make was for funding holiday lights. The vendor’s price jumped from $9,500 to “$15,000, if not more.”

Member Amy Ritterbusch suggested that perhaps donations could be made and the number of lights “toned down.”

Land Use Department changes employment structure

Principal Planner John Gelcich represented the Land Use, Planning & Permitting Department. The department requested a 15% increase to $649,502.67 mainly to cover employee pay. The department currently has four full-time salaried employees, four full-time hourly employees and six part-time inspectors. The Building Department’s revolving account of $216,333.60 will be used to fund two full salaries plus half of the building commissioner’s salary.

The request included funding the creation of a land use director position and the restoration of the department head position.

Gelcich explained that before Town Manager Elaine Lazarus assumed her current position, she previously served as both the assistant town manager and the department director. Now the department will have a director and a land use director, who will work together.

The principal planner position will become more of an “entry-level position,” Lazarus said, with the salary reduced by 30.4% She noted that she was the previous department head before she became assistant town manager and took those duties with her.

“Now I’m handing that back, that work,” Lazarus said, noting that Gelcich is the interim director. “Both planning-related positions will work together, and the director will resume control of the department.”

The recent conservation administrator and director of municipal inspection hires have trimmed those salaries by a combined 21.8% from FY 25, Gelcich added. Department expenses were reduced by 32.7% to $37,592. Projected FY 26 department revenues were estimated at $1,035,250, which is on par with the two previous fiscal years.

Departments work together to trim expenses

Human Resources Director Jessica Lewerenz explained that there was a salary decrease of 5.3% due to new hires not earning as much as their predecessors. The department’s operating expenses will remain level, she said. Its training budget will be used to fund employee training for town departments rather than spending the money on outside consultants. The police and fire departments each were allotted $10,000 to fund their specialized training.

Reed said some property maintenance will be spread over other departments, creating a DPW budget reduction.

Town Clerk Connor Degan explained that he oversees both the Town Clerk’s Office and elections and registration budgets, which when combined reduced their budget 12.1% from FY 25. Because this is a non-election year for the state and federal governments, the elections and registrations office reduced its budget by 54.6% to $27,228.53.

Said Degan: “Hopefully we can use some of the savings that we realized here to support some of the departments that do need it right now, because obviously there are some growing pains across all of these departments.”

Chair Brian Herr stressed that while the public may see new hires, other salaries and expenses are being reduced.

Added Herr: “It’s going to all sort out in a fairly neutral manner.”

Lazarus and LaPierre both approved of all the requests made at the meeting.