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Council questions FY26 enterprise fund increases for water and sewer operations
Summary
At an informal Gardner City Council budget meeting June 9, councilors and the mayor discussed proposed FY26 enterprise fund increases for water and sewer operations, including certification training tied to recently negotiated DPW union contracts and computer upgrades at treatment plants; no formal votes were taken.
Mayor Nicholson and councilors revisited proposed FY26 increases in Gardner’s water and sewer enterprise accounts at an informal budget meeting Monday, focusing on pay-grid-driven certification costs and computer upgrades at treatment facilities.
The discussion centered on an estimated training and certification line the mayor said was based on newly negotiated DPW union contracts and on information-technology needs at the city’s treatment plants. “This is an estimate,” Mayor Nicholson said when asked how many personnel the line would cover. “We can certainly get back to you on the number of personnel that this would cover, but it’s an estimate.”
Why it matters: The line items are paid from the enterprise fund rather than the general fund; the mayor’s office said that gives the city “a little more flexibility” because unspent amounts fall into retained earnings in the enterprise accounts. That flexibility was part of the…
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