Taunton committee votes to dissolve airport and parking commission revolving funds, move balances to general fund

The Committee on Finance and Salaries voted to dissolve the Taunton Airport and Parking Commission revolving funds as of June 30, 2025, and approved transferring any remaining balances into the city’s undesignated general fund balance.

City Chief Financial Officer Guillermo Russo told the committee the Department of Revenue (DOR) had raised concerns that the airport and parking revolving accounts were not self‑supporting and that those recurring deficits could threaten the city’s ability to set an annual tax rate. “Based upon the trends and all the figures … you can’t have an account that doesn’t support itself,” Russo said.

Committee members and staff said the move is an accounting change, not a change in oversight of the commissions. Russo and administration officials said operations — leases, parking rates and day‑to‑day oversight — would remain with the commissions and relevant managers. “This is simply how we account for certain revenues and certain expenses,” an administration representative said. The committee also approved a motion asking that any remaining balances in the airport and parking commission accounts at fiscal year end be closed to the city’s undesignated fund balance for FY2025.

Why it matters: The DOR reviews municipal funds during the annual tax‑rate setting process. City staff said repeated year‑to‑year deficits in the airport account, and the parking commission’s $80,000 per‑year debt expense that was not previously factored into its reported expenses, triggered DOR review. Russo said changing the accounting treatment will reduce recurring questions from the DOR during the tax‑rate process and avoid risking the city’s ability to set a tax rate.

Discussion and conditions: Councilors pressed administration officials on the implications for local control and future oversight. Councilor Borges said she had spoken with parking commission chair Jay Dorsey and airport manager Foley and reported they had no objections; she also said she was concerned that the council would assume financial responsibility without gaining operational control of airport leases and parking rates. Administration staff said nothing about oversight or operations would change and that the city could restore the enterprise/ revolving structure in a future fiscal year if circumstances changed.

Administration and economic development staff described near‑term steps aimed at returning the airport to a self‑sustaining basis: a proposed wetland survey and lease of about five acres of airport land, a planned $34,000 survey to determine developable acreage and early marketing for low‑traffic research and development or light industrial uses. Staff also noted work on a downtown parking study and a possible 90–100‑space paid lot at Forest Spring Lane to increase commission revenues.

Votes at a glance: The committee voted to dissolve the airport and parking revolving funds effective June 30, 2025 (motion passed; one recorded opposing vote by a councilor identified in the meeting as opposed). The committee also voted to close any remaining balances in the airport and parking commission accounts to the undesignated fund balance for FY2025 (motion passed; one recorded opposing vote).

What’s next: City staff said the accounting change will be implemented for the FY2025 year‑end close. Administration and commissions will continue discussions on revenue strategies — including leasing the five‑acre parcel at the airport and downtown parking improvements — with the stated goal of restoring enterprise fund status if the funds again become self‑sustaining.

Ending: Committee members repeatedly emphasized that the move was intended as a compliance and bookkeeping measure in response to DOR guidance and not a change in operational control or supervision of the airport or parking commissions.