Finance committee approves $3.73 million in year-end transfers to cover snow deficit and departmental needs

The Marlborough City finance committee voted June 1 to approve FY2026 year-end transfers totaling $3,731,000 to close out department deficits and cover unforeseen costs.

The largest item was a $3,177,000 transfer from the undesignated fund to the snow-and-ice account to cover a large winter deficit after an unusually active season. Councelor Orm said the snow line was “430% over the original budget” and warned that relying on unfilled positions to balance budgets is risky. A committee member identified as Mr. President said the transfer comes from undesignated funds, not salary underruns, and cited the season’s scale—“20 events over 68 inches of snow”—as the driver. The motion to approve the snow-and-ice transfer passed unanimously.

Committee members then approved smaller reallocations that staff said are needed to cover ordinary and unexpected department costs. The finance staff presented and the committee approved a $32,000 transfer reallocating a collector/assistant finance director line ($12,000 to unemployment; $20,000 to postage); staff (Brian) tied the higher postage demand to increased motor-vehicle excise collections. The motion passed without opposition.

A $15,000 transfer from wireless-antenna payments into the open-space stabilization account was approved after staff explained a tracking failure that had reduced annual antenna collections from an expected ~$28,500 to about $15,000. Staff said the decline resulted from a personnel change that left no one tracking special-permit payments and that the city will attempt to invoice and recover unpaid fees.

The committee also approved a $493,000 reallocation from various Department of Public Works salary accounts to cover multiple operating needs, broken into subtransfers: $50,000 to natural gas, $68,000 to fuel and lubricants, $120,000 to city repairs and maintenance for unforeseen costs (including emergency fixes to building door interlock/card-access systems), and $255,000 for professional and technical services to fund additional engineering work (designs for West Main, South and Pleasant streets; the mayor’s office is pursuing a possible $1 million federal grant for construction). Each subtransfer was moved, seconded and carried.

The committee approved a $9,000 transfer from the election budget to the city clerk’s office to pay a vendor for annual street listing processing and mailings that affect voter-list status; members discussed whether prepaid return postage would be used and urged residents to return listings. A final $5,000 transfer from an unfilled paralegal line to legal-services accounts was approved to fund ongoing legal matters.

All motions on transfers were approved as presented by voice vote; the chair read the yeas as one through five each time. Department heads and staff said they will be available at future finance meetings to answer follow-up questions.

Next steps: the transfers are effective as approved; staff flagged several follow-ups to improve collections (wireless antenna invoices) and to report on long-term budgeting for variable costs such as snow removal.