The Town of Blackstone Finance Committee on Jan. 6 opened a public hearing on three special town meeting warrant articles that would appropriate $98,744 to fund the first fiscal‑year cost items of three collective bargaining agreements with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) State Council No. 93, Local 1709.

The finance committee’s chair, Jeff Silverstein, said the three articles seek supplemental appropriations for contracts retroactive to July 1, 2024: $56,161 for the public works (DPW) unit, $10,860 for the clerical unit and $31,723 for the dispatchers — a combined total of $98,744.

Why it matters: The requested sums would be taken from the town’s stabilization fund and are intended to cover negotiated wage and step adjustments that were not included in the budget adopted last May. The committee must make a recommendation before a special town meeting; the committee scheduled a follow‑up meeting for Thursday to consider recommendations and to ensure the public hearing record meets legal requirements.

Town staff said two of the three memoranda of agreement (MOAs) already were available on the town website; the dispatchers’ agreement was executed the day of the meeting and posted immediately. Chad (town administrator) told the committee the contracts “would all be retroactive back to July 1,” and that the dispatch contract was finalized “right down to the wire today.”

Town Accountant Laura (town accountant) told the committee the board of selectmen has recommended that the $98,744 be funded from stabilization and then replenished from free cash at the May special town meeting if free cash is certified in time. “The total is $98,744 of funding, which would come from the stabilization fund,” she said.

Staff and committee members summarized the bargaining-unit sizes and the negotiated compensation structure: the dispatch unit has four members, the clerical unit 13 and the DPW unit 11. For clerical and DPW the contracts use a three-year structure with no cost-of-living adjustment in year one, a 3% increase in year two and a 2.5% increase in year three; year‑one wage adjustments (step and scale changes) were applied to address compression and retention. Committee chair Jeff Silverstein noted his review of the DPW wage sheet and summarized the year‑one increases there as ranging by step, with typical increases near 5% and some outliers higher or lower.

Several finance committee members and town staff expressed concern about the timing of contract completions. Silverstein said the delays make it difficult for the finance committee and the public to vet contracts ahead of a special town meeting: “it’s sort of mind‑boggling to me that we have three years to negotiate a contract and yet it doesn’t get done,” he said, urging more timely settlements in future cycles.

No final committee vote was taken on the appropriations at the Jan. 6 meeting. The committee opened the public hearing, heard staff presentations and public‑process clarifications, then voted to close the hearing the same night and scheduled an additional meeting later in the week to deliberate and make a formal recommendation to town meeting. Laura reiterated the plan to fund the amounts from the stabilization fund now and present a May article to replenish the stabilization account from free cash, to avoid floor amendments if free cash certification timelines make that uncertain.

The record shows the committee closed the public hearing by voice vote and agreed to reconvene to finalize recommendations; the special town meeting will be the forum for any final approvals by town meeting voters.

Ending: The Finance Committee posted a follow‑up meeting for Thursday to complete its review and to vote its recommendation on the three warrant articles. If the committee recommends approval, those recommendations will be reported to the special town meeting where the appropriations will be decided.