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Advisory finance committee backs $300,000 transfer to town insurance account
Summary
The Town of Westborough advisory finance committee voted to recommend a $300,000 interdepartmental transfer into the insurance account to cover higher Medicare retiree premiums and other insurance costs; the funds come from salary savings in three departments.
The Town of Westborough Advisory Finance Committee on a voice roll-call endorsed a $300,000 transfer into the town insurance account to cover higher health, dental and other insurance costs.
Kim Foster, assistant town manager, told the committee the request was largely driven by unexpectedly high Medicare retiree premium renewals and turnover-driven salary savings. “The premiums went up on Medicare by 15%,” Foster said, and “about $130,000 of the transfer is to cover the increase in premiums.” She also said the town has “close to 600 individuals on our Blue Cross Blue Shield plan.”
Foster outlined the transfer sources: $150,000 from the Department of Public Works salary and wages line, $120,000 from the finance department salary and wages, and $30,000 from the town manager’s salary and wages. She said those salary lines had unspent funds because of extended vacancies and that the transfers reflect moving unspent FY25 funds to cover FY25 insurance costs.
A committee member moved the recommendation and it was seconded. The committee then took a roll-call voice vote; multiple members were recorded as voting “yes” and the recommendation passed. No no votes or abstentions were recorded in the transcript excerpt.
Committee members asked whether the transfer would affect next year’s budget; Foster said transfers are for the current fiscal year (FY25 transfers are allowed through July 15) and that staff had already accounted for higher Medicare renewal rates when preparing the FY26 budget. She also noted the town switched active employee coverage from Blue Cross to Harvard Pilgrim to secure a more favorable renewal for active employees.
Members asked for more granular information about insurance costs and subscriber counts; staff said the budget book contains line-item breakouts and offered to provide subscriber information for committee review. The committee will receive those materials as part of its regular budget work.
The committee’s action is a recommendation to subsequent town authorities (the motion recorded as the advisory committee’s recommendation).
