Finance committee backs $170,400 supplemental appropriation for Registry of Deeds, seeks language fixes

Barnstable County’s Assembly of Delegates finance committee voted unanimously to recommend Ordinance 2025-14, a $170,400 supplemental appropriation to begin renovations to the Registry of Deeds basement, but instructed staff to revise the ordinance’s language to ensure the Assembly retains control over future appropriations.

The committee’s discussion centered on draft language in Section 3 that would allow funds to be taken from the “available general fund unreserved fund balance, or from such funding sources as may be designated by the Board of Regional Commissioners.” Delegate Frizzell argued the clause was an overly broad delegation of spending authority and recommended striking the open-ended phrase so the funding line ends at the unreserved fund balance.

"It should just strike those words," Frizzell said, urging the committee to require the administration to return to the Assembly for any additional funding beyond the unreserved general fund balance. County administrator Owen Dutton responded that he believed the language was likely boilerplate and that "there's no intent to do anything different than what... we've asked, verbally," adding the administration’s intent was to use the general fund reserve balance for the project.

Finance Director Coppola told the committee the two previously adopted ordinances were mentioned because the general fund operating budget had been adopted across both and that he had no objection to the committee clarifying the drafting.

Members said they supported the substance of the appropriation — to provide an initial $170,400 to start work on the Registry of Deeds basement — but preferred to approve the committee’s recommendation with the specific edits to ordinance text drafted and circulated to members before the full Assembly vote.

On a roll-call vote the finance committee (Delegates Gallagher, Frizzell, Vice Chair Killian, Chair Omen and Delegate O’Malley) voted yes to recommend the ordinance to the full Assembly, with clerk and staff to prepare the amended language for final approval.

The committee did not finalize exact line edits in the meeting; members agreed to have the clerk and the Assembly’s legal/administrative staff draft the language changes and circulate them for a short follow-up vote before sending the ordinance forward.