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Southborough Board of Health reviews FY27 budget; shared nurse, inspector posts remain open
Summary
At its Nov. 18 meeting the Town of Southborough Board of Health reviewed a proposed FY27 budget that assumes modest staff compensation increases and relies on one-time offsets from a regional partner; officials reported two open public-health positions and said recruitment continues.
The Town of Southborough Board of Health met Nov. 18 to review the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and staffing for the regional public-health partnership referenced in the meeting as "Greater Burrows." Chair (Speaker 1) said the board would review but not vote on the FY27 budget and asked Taylor (Speaker 4) to walk members through the memo and spreadsheet.
Taylor said the preliminary personnel assumptions for FY27 included "a 4% increase for staff, a 2% staff raise, and a 2% COLA until I hear differently," and proposed an additional longevity stipend for staff with five or more years of service. Taylor cautioned that a contracted-services line item is constrained by an existing contract with a cap "up to $55,000," which the budget cannot reallocate without adjusting that contract.
Taylor also presented a compiled list of expenses that the regional partner (referred to in the transcript as "Greater Burrows") covers for Southborough. "Our total of $6,500 that gets spent only for Southborough" includes conferences, certifications, office supplies and CPR trainings held in town that offset the town's operating budget, Taylor said. Chair (Speaker 1) noted that the funding was not guaranteed annually, adding that the figure reflected one-time FY25 excess funds and that unspent consortium funds may not recur.
Taylor added that a contact-tracing grant that previously helped offset some costs "is ending at the end of this fiscal year," reducing the available offsets going forward. When asked about the consortium's outlook for next year, Taylor said the consortium was still finalizing its budget and the board would revisit the request at its next meeting.
On staffing, Taylor said two positions are currently posted: a part-time shared public-health nurse position (posted at 15 hours) that had attracted no applicants at the time of the meeting, and a full-time regional inspector/health agent position covering all four towns that has received interest and is scheduled for another round of interviews. Taylor reported that the previous inspector, Michael Seager, left last month and that "Chris" (no last name provided in the transcript) is temporarily providing coverage.
The board agreed to take the FY27 budget up for a vote at a subsequent meeting once members had time to review the memo and spreadsheet. They also confirmed the request to move the 250 Turnpike Road 40B site-plan review to the Dec. 9 meeting and set a tentative January meeting for Jan. 13 at 9:00 a.m.
Votes recorded at the meeting included approval of the Oct. 7 and Nov. 3 meeting minutes and a motion to adjourn at 9:13 a.m.; both motions carried as recorded in the transcript.
