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Merrimac Finance Committee approves minutes, OKs survey distribution and reviews modest budget and staffing adjustments
Summary
The Merrimac Finance Committee unanimously approved three sets of prior minutes, authorized distribution of a new internal survey, and reviewed modest cost increases for property-assessment software, tax-collector fees, and contractual services as staff requested a part-time accounting-hours increase.
The Merrimac Finance Committee on Jan. 27 unanimously approved minutes from Sep. 23, 2024, Dec. 9, 2024 and Jan. 6, 2025, and voted to authorize Town Administrator Carol McLeod to distribute a new internal survey to departments.
The vote to distribute the survey was moved by Thomas Ackerman and seconded by Mike Marden and passed unanimously. The three minutes-approval motions were each moved by Mike Marden and seconded by Thomas Ackerman and recorded as unanimous approvals.
Principal Assessor Heather Roche and Assistant Assessor Kelleigh Greaney told the committee that a Patriot Properties software contract will increase by about $680, a periodic rise they said occurs roughly every three years. They emphasized this charge is separate from MIMAP, the town’s mapping service.
On tax-collector items, the office proposed fee adjustments including a $125 increase tied to school-related charges, $30 for dues and $45 for business travel compared with last year; the Tax Collector also reported raising some MLC fees to align with neighboring towns and said the office will begin accepting credit-card payments at the counter. The transcript does not specify the Tax Collector’s name.
Carol McLeod explained that she had moved several expense line items within the finance budget as reallocations rather than requests for increased total appropriations.
Town Accountant Anne Jim described line-item adjustments and proposed adding 10.5 hours to the Assistant Town Accountant role, which the transcript shows would bring that position to 19.5 hours per week as a non‑benefited role. Jim said it has been “incredibly difficult” to recruit accounting staff; she also reported a cost‑of‑living adjustment for IT salaries and contractual increases, and noted Guilfoil’s fee for website and public‑relations services rose about 60 percent.
The committee did not record any no votes or abstentions in the motions shown. The meeting moved through the agenda items without additional formal actions recorded in the provided transcript.
