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Westborough AFC briefs warrant transfer to cover police academy tuition
Summary
The advisory finance committee heard a proposal to transfer salary savings into expenses so the police department can send recruits to the state police academy. Chief Todd Menardi said three recruits recently started; tuition is $3,200 per recruit and additional equipment costs are about $3,000 each.
The Westborough Advisory Finance Committee on Sept. 16 reviewed a warrant article that would transfer salary savings to cover police academy tuition and related expenses.
Chief Todd Menardi (chief of police; name appears in the transcript also as “Minardi”) told the committee the department recently started three recruits in the academy and is operating with a vacancy. He said tuition is $3,200 per recruit and that additional equipment and training costs are about $2,000 for equipment plus about $1,000 for ammunition and firearms-related supplies. Menardi described recruitment and retention as a national challenge that has reduced the town’s ability to rely on lateral transfers of already-certified officers.
Members asked whether the transfer is a one-time patch or whether the line will be added permanently to future budgets. Menardi said the transfer is effectively a short-term solution tied to current vacancies; he said staff will continue interviewing candidates and hope to secure lateral hires when possible. The department’s regular training budget for the whole department was cited as about $25,000.
The committee delayed any vote on the article until after the Town Manager (Christy) briefs the committee with other warrant items later in the week.
Next procedural steps: staff will present the request again at the meeting when the Town Manager is present; the committee indicated it would likely vote the articles together after that briefing.
