On August 12, the Mattapoisett Finance Committee met to discuss and approve end-of-year transfers that would finally draw a line under a year of fiscal challenges and revenue uncertainties.
“We are balancing budgets with the actuals,” said Town Administrator Mike Lorenco. He said that, while the current revenue status is strong, there remains great uncertainty about the 2022 revenue realities given that new car sales have dropped. But for now, strong private building projects along with supplemental monies from the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) find Mattapoisett’s financials on solid ground, Lorenco said.
“We had received [and used] $900,000 by the end of December,” Lorenco said with another estimated $100,000 yet to be used. The town has also received half of a $669,000 federal grant, money that can be used for a wide variety of projects such as infrastructure. “The [Select] board has to decide how to use that money.
Among the total transfer of $77,063 being moved from reserve accounts, there were: $6,760 for janitorial services, including the installation of safety barriers in town buildings and increased cleaning, both directly attributed to the impact of COVID-19; $10,200 weekend coverage for fire station staffing and an additional $23,040 for on-call personnel; $3,200 to balance the Transfer Station budget and another $8,110 for fees associated with recycled materials costs; $14,673 in employee compensation beyond retirement dates (Amanda Stone and Liz Leidhold), as well as salary due Garrett Bauer before his election as highway surveyor; $6,000 employee educational incentive reimbursement; and $4,300 unemployment compensation.
Lorenco said that the increase in the number of on-call fire personnel responses can be tied to a greater number of residents at home due to COVID-19 and, therefore, their availability to answer alarms. Lorenco said he had a meeting scheduled with Fire Chief Andrew Murray to discuss ways of avoiding a surge of on-call personnel at any given time.
Regarding town employees’ ongoing educational opportunities, Lorenco said that municipal finance jobs are “more complicated than in the past. … Sometimes it takes six years or more to complete.” The accompanying incentive, he said, is that investing in employees encourages them to stay in Mattapoisett.
Lorenco said that the Tri-Town Selectmen’s meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 1, and will address topics such as the new regional school agreement topping the list of agenda items. Select Board member Tyler Macallister said that he hopes to see the OPEB liability for the schools become a budget line item in schools’ budget planning.
Also coming up is the Tri-Town Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 25, at 7:00 pm.
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell