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Select Board reviews fiscal 2026 operating budget draft with targeted cuts to meet finance guidelines
Summary
Town finance staff presented a recommended FY26 operating budget that meets the finance committee target by reducing 2.5 FTE and cutting line items including vehicle allowances and most overtime; Select Board members questioned library Sunday closures and long-term impacts on joint accounts and debt service.
Town Chief Financial Officer Anthony Ansaldi presented a recommended fiscal 2026 operating budget on Feb. 10 that meets the finance committee guidelines but relies on staffing and line-item cuts that will affect services.
Ansaldi told the Select Board the recommended package reduces 2.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, eliminates vehicle allowances (retaining take-home vehicles only for public safety and the public works director), removes overtime in most departments except public safety and public works, and reduces or removes low-use line items across departments. He said those cuts, plus a reduction in budgeted hiring steps, bring the total general fund operating budget to the guideline target.
The board asked for details on program impacts. Ansaldi said proposed changes would close the library on Sundays if overtime for Sunday staffing is cut; he noted the library’s Sunday overtime budget had totaled roughly $44,000 in FY25. He also discussed proposed hiring controls—a pause on new postings that would require departmental justification to a tripartite panel—and recommended converting some take-home vehicles to pool cars to save future capital and fuel costs.
Select Board members pressed on the police and fire budgets and overtime dynamics. Ansaldi said the police contract for FY26 is settled and contributes to a projected increase in police costs; the fire contract remains unsettled and the recommended budget holds some salary funds in a reserve pending settlement. Fire officials present said an internal analysis is under way to estimate whether adding FTE could reduce overtime costs; one estimate discussed during the meeting suggested adding four FTEs could largely offset overtime costs under current coverage models.
Board members also questioned the budget’s joint accounts, which include insurance and retirement assessments and excluded debt service; Ansaldi warned that those accounts are growing and will drive additional tax pressure outside the operating guideline. He said group insurance rates are projected to increase and that retirement assessment numbers were still being finalized.
Ending: The Select Board received the FY26 operating budget recommended by staff and asked for follow-up materials on specific items including joint-account assumptions, detailed open-position counts and a clearer explanation of projected receipts before the board’s next review.
