Gardner council cuts Lifeline revolving-account cap to $10,000 after liability questions

The Gardner City Council on Aug. 4 voted 9-0 to amend a proposed revolving-account limit for the city’s Lifeline services program, reducing the maximum balance from $20,000 to $10,000. Councilors debated whether the city should be running parts of the Lifeline program and pressed staff for clearer financial and legal detail before authorizing a larger fund. Councilor Kacinskas said the council was “giving up much of our oversight” by creating a revolving fund and asked for more information on territory, liability and cost structure. “This is a good program. … it literally can be life saving,” Kacinskas said, while still urging caution. The amended measure creates a revolving account under “chapter 44, section 53 e 1 and a half of the general laws of the Commonwealth” to be managed by the Gardner Senior Center; the council approved the change after an amendment motion by Kacinskas and a second by Councilor Mack. The amendment passed on a roll-call vote of 9 ayes. Councilors said the revolving account would allow the senior center to run Lifeline activities and potentially pay salaries and equipment costs, but several members asked that the mayor and Director Ellis return with more detailed reporting and invoices if the account nears the cap. Councilor Eglin said the council should receive periodic data and recommended working with the city auditor to add start and end dates and clearer permitted uses. Councilor Brooks noted that if employees are paid from the revolving fund, payroll-related costs such as Medicare and unemployment taxes would also need to be paid through that account. Several councilors emphasized the measure authorizes spending limits for the fiscal year and does not itself create program policy. The council approved the amended motion and then passed the measure as amended. No vote totals beyond the 9-0 amendment result were provided for the final passage in the transcript.