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Committee advances bonds, budget amendments and a 3% nonunion salary increase
Summary
The committee recommended a package of bond resolutions, advanced the operating budget resolution as amended to include a $100,000 compensated‑absences allocation, and recommended a 3% across‑the‑board salary adjustment for about 100 nonunion employees; motions carried unanimously.
Unidentified Finance Staff summarized the city’s bond requests tied to the 2026 budget and capital plan and reported that using the state Bond Bank has yielded interest savings. Staff listed individual bond amounts for projects in the plan, including a $1,308,000 appropriation for the fire apparatus replacement program, $687,000 for Lower Winchester Street reconstruction, $1,402,000 for roadway preservation, $1,320,000 for stormwater resiliency, $1,275,000 for sewer improvements, $690,000 for a 3,000,000‑gallon water tank repair, $970,000 for water distribution improvements and a $709,000 wellfield upgrade. The staff noted the capital plan shows specific grant breakdowns (for example, Lower Winchester Street grants totaling $4,000,731).
A member of the public and committee members discussed how much state and federal grant money these bond requests leverage; staff said the grant amounts listed in the capital plan are grants already secured for this year rather than hoped‑for funds. One speaker observed the bond package leverages roughly $7–8 million in matching funds.
On personnel matters, Beth Fox, Assistant City Manager and Human Resources Director, presented the salary ordinance for nonunion personnel (about 100 employees) and said the ordinance reflects a 3% across‑the‑board adjustment with minor technical edits to salary designators; the committee moved to recommend adoption of Ordinance O‑2025‑18 and voted unanimously.
On the operating budget, staff provided a May 5 memo of staff‑recommended adjustments and presented an amendment adding $100,000 to a compensated absences fund (to segregate earned but unused employee time per auditing requirements); committee members noted a packet numbering discrepancy but staff confirmed the $100,000 had been previously accounted for in the general fund and the amendment merely reclassified the amount. The committee voted to amend the operating budget per the memo (net impact $0), to include the $100,000 compensated‑absences allocation, and to recommend adoption of Resolution R‑2025‑12 as amended; the votes were unanimous and the items will move to a public hearing.
All motions recorded at the meeting were adopted without opposition.
