Middleborough sets $1 million preliminary free-cash cap for capital requests

Town Manager Lincoln told the Capital Improvement Planning Committee on Jan. 22 that he has built a preliminary funding plan that uses about $1,000,000 of available free cash for capital projects in FY 2025.

The $1 million figure is a policy-driven percentage of the town’s free cash, Lincoln said, and he asked the committee to hear all departmental requests before finalizing allocations. "Based on our financial policy, it's the percentage of our free cash that we would spend on capital," Lincoln said.

Lincoln said departmental presentations would be heard at this meeting and a Feb. 5 follow-up was scheduled; he said he did not want department heads to be unfairly disadvantaged by publishing the cap before projects were presented. Committee members discussed whether to vote on requests as they were heard or to postpone votes until after all presentations. The committee agreed to hear all departments and defer final recommendations and formal funding decisions to a later meeting, to allow staff to assemble a consolidated funding plan.

The announcement framed the remainder of the meeting: department staff presented 26 requests totaling roughly $7 million in project estimates. The Town Manager said his preliminary plan would get the town close to the $1 million target but that many requests would exceed available free cash and would need additional funding sources or prioritization.

Committee members asked how strictly the cap would be enforced and whether some projects would be recommended only to be presented at town meeting. Lincoln acknowledged there would be a prioritization process and suggested the committee could recommend projects for town meeting or move some to later years.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the funding plan during the Jan. 22 session; members said they wanted to review all presentations and meet again before giving final recommendations.