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Finance Committee discusses IT contract increases, shared dispatch costs and a near-$120,000 director role; members ask for job description
Summary
Committee members flagged contractual increases in IT and police budgets, noted the joint dispatch center shifted dispatcher costs to the fire department, raised a nearly $120,000 director salary for review, and requested a job description for that position.
Members of the Town of Middleborough Finance Committee discussed contractual budget increases in the police and information-technology budgets, cost-sharing with the schools, and a suggestion to review a high-paid director position that currently supervises two staff.
A committee member summarized line-item changes in the police budget and said overall the department showed a 7% increase that the presenter attributed mainly to contractual obligations. "PD has seen an overall increase of 7%, but if you go down the line items, it's all contractual," the member said. The same speaker said the joint dispatching center appears to shift some dispatcher costs to the fire department: "they saw a little bit of a decrease in the dispatchers, but... FD is taking more of that cost," the member said.
On IT, members said the budget increase reflected contract and software-maintenance costs, including maintenance for the town's Munis system. One member raised the specific concern that the town has a director-level IT salary approaching $120,000 overseeing only two direct reports and suggested looking at organizational consolidation or shared services with nearby departments or the school system. "I think it might be worth a look...we have there's a lot more supervisors than there are people to manage," a committee member said, arguing consolidation could yield better value.
The committee asked for a job description and responsibilities for the director position. A committee member asked, "Could we request the job description that the position that's being discussed?" and the chair responded, "Of course," indicating staff will provide that document. Members discussed ambiguity about which budget 'pot' pays for items that touch multiple town units, such as school Wi-Fi build-out and school resource officers, and urged clearer accounting of cost-sharing.
No formal votes or budget decisions were taken during the discussion; members said they would raise the staffing and consolidation questions during the formal budget review process in the coming weeks.
The committee paused the remainder of liaison updates until a future meeting to preserve time for the budget discussion.
