Andover selectmen adjust budget lines, add part-time admin assistant and raise treasurer's pay

The Board of Selectmen voted March 9 to revise multiple lines in the town's 2026-27 preliminary budget, approving a new $30,000 line for a part-time administrative assistant and increasing the treasurer's salary to $40,000.

The changes came during a multi-hour budget review in which the board moved several items by recorded motion. Chair (the meeting moderator) framed the discussion around payroll pressures — noting that employee salaries, benefits and retirement account for about 60% of town spending — and urged members to prioritize staffing that would keep operations running while projects proceed.

Why it matters: the approved adjustments shift near-term dollars to town-office capacity and to an employee who handles fiduciary work, while other changes reflect efforts to avoid taxing residents for grant-funded projects.

Key votes and outcomes - Project review committee appointments (Kenneth Romeo, Adrian Mandeville, Ed Sirisley, Nicholas Likowski, Robert Roy, Scott Legasse and Tara Goldberg) approved (vote 5-0). - Admin assistant: Board approved increasing the town-administrator admin-assistant line to $30,000 (motion carried 5-0). - Treasurer salary: Board voted to raise the treasurer salary to $40,000 (5-0). - Historic restoration: Board reduced the historic-restoration line from $6,500 to $1,000 to avoid including an anticipated grant in the tax-funded operating number (5-0). - Community center: The board approved a $19,500 budget for a community-center assistant (15 hours/week at an approved hourly estimate) and reduced office-supplies funding for that office to $800, reflecting a pending grant for transportation software (motions carried 5-0). - Town attorney: The legal retainer/line was increased to $20,000 to cover anticipated contract, personnel and project legal work (5-0). - Animal control shared services: The board increased the shared-services amount to $19,610 in line with a shared-service agreement (5-0). - Senior resident services stipend: The resident-services stipend was increased to $6,295 (5-0). - Open-space fund: A motion to raise the annual open-space set-aside to $25,000 passed 3-2 after debate about capital priorities and available fund balances.

What the board said Chair (moderator) explained the priorities as a mix of urgent staffing needs and protecting grant-funded projects from being supported by general-tax dollars. "We need to take care of Lisa and the treasurer's salary," the Chair said while asking members to approve the treasurer increase so the office has sufficient capacity.

Board member Carol Lee urged care when showing grant-related revenue in operating budgets so taxpayers are not asked to fund projects that may be covered by outside grants. "It's misleading to show grant money as a tax-funded line," she said during discussion of the historic-restoration line.

Process notes and next steps Several adjustments reflected technical bookkeeping items the board asked the treasurer's office to reconcile before the board of finance meets. The board directed staff to provide clearer breakdowns of departmental revenues (including grants and program fees), to tie those figures to specific bank or reserve accounts, and to send updated numbers to the board of finance for its upcoming review.

The board closed budgeting work for the night after a final round of votes and moved remaining agenda items toward adjournment.