Westborough AFC recommends three transfers to cover HR consultant, fire overtime and snow-and-ice costs

The Town of Westborough Advisory Finance Committee on June 2 recommended three fiscal 2025 transfers to cover staffing changes, overtime and an unusually costly snow season.

The committee voted to recommend a $4,500 transfer to hire a consultant to assist with a benefits transition after the town’s HR coordinator left. Town staff said the amount is available because the town did not fill a management analyst position this fiscal year and the consultant will help with the transition from Blue Cross to Harvard coverage. “The $4,500 is to hire a consultant,” a town staff member told the committee.

Fire Chief Patrick Purcell requested a $45,000 transfer from police salaries and wages to fire salaries and wages to cover overtime and staffing shortfalls. Purcell described multiple causes for the shortfall: two firefighters serving overseas for eight months, several off-duty injuries that required surgery, one long-term FMLA absence and training-related vacancies. “We’ve been filling out two to three people a day on that chief’s shift,” Purcell said, and warned the committee those pressures could reappear in next year’s budget. He said the department may apply for a SAFER grant to add four firefighters or seek additional overtime funding at budget time.

The committee confirmed that interdepartmental transfers required sign-off by the police chief when funds are taken from one department’s payroll to another and approved the recommendation.

Public works officials asked the AFC to transfer $103,900.29 from the AFC reserve fund to the DPW’s snow-and-ice expense account to reconcile an operating deficit after an extended winter and a late snowstorm. DPW Director Chris Hayat said the department had anticipated deficit spending and had initially requested up to $150,000 (about $125,000 for expenses and $25,000 for wages), but the reconciled expense figure for this fiscal year was $103,900.29. Hayat cited salt shortages earlier in the season and routine equipment repairs and contractor costs as drivers of the expense. “One of our most recent purchases was salt because we did have an issue during the year with salt not being available,” Hayat said.

The transfer will reduce the AFC reserve fund from $249,958 to about $148,005.87, the committee recorded. Committee members asked whether the DPW was deferring preventative maintenance by requesting only the reconciled amount; the DPW director said routine work will continue into the new fiscal year as needed.

All three transfers were moved, seconded and recommended by the committee as recorded in the meeting minutes. Several members thanked department staff for stepping up during the year’s operational challenges.

Next steps: the AFC’s recommendations will be included in the town’s fiscal records; any further budget requests from departments (including possible SAFER grant applications or additional overtime requests from the fire department) would be considered as part of future budget processes.