Acushnet Finance Committee approves interdepartmental transfers to close fiscal year

The Acushnet Finance Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a package of interdepartmental transfers designed to close out the town's fiscal-year accounting, the committee chair said.

The transfers, presented by Adam, a town staff member, reallocated funds between salary, expense and reserve lines to cover deficits including a $2,400 shortfall in town meeting and elections, a $13,000 treasurer legal expense request, and department-level adjustments for police, fire and highway accounts. "This is the last day we could do end of year transfers," Adam told the committee as he reviewed the list.

Why it matters: the transfers enable the town to balance accounts for the fiscal year without calling a supplemental town meeting or tapping capital reserves. Committee members emphasized the practical effect on departmental operations and on the town's remaining reserve balance.

Adam walked the committee through several specified reallocations: a $2,400 shift to cover town meeting and elections from register of voters temporary salaries; a $5,000 reallocation for Board of Selectmen professional/technical expenses from highway road materials; a $13,000 treasurer legal expense covered by ConCom salaries and registrar lines; a $23,000 police salary deficit attributed to staffing and overtime patterns; a $57,000 fire overtime and salary shortfall tied to an injury and coverage needs; and a $102,000 draw from the reserve fund for snow removal. Adam also noted smaller transfers for cemetery salaries ($2,500) and historical building repairs ($1,000). On intra-departmental moves, he cited fire turnout gear and building inspector salary reclassifications and said the transfers are presented in a way that matches how items appear at town meeting.

Committee members questioned the concentration of transfers taken from highway paving and road materials. One committee member asked why so many transfers drew on the highway account; Adam said some projects were encumbered and not fully expended, and contracting and bidding schedules affected when money flowed to projects. "We actually encumbered some because we're actually doing some road work recently, but we didn't expend the full amount," Adam said.

Members also pressed on staffing issues. The chair and Adam confirmed the town remains in search of a permanent town accountant; Adam said the FY27 budget assumes the role will be filled. On police and fire lines, Adam attributed deficits to vacancies that produced overtime and to an injury in the fire department that increased overtime costs.

A committee member criticized the timing of materials, saying the transfers were provided only days earlier and left little time for review. "This gives us no time to really research in which I don't think it's great practice," the member said. Adam and others pointed to statutory deadlines and recent staffing transitions as factors behind the schedule.

After discussion, a member moved to approve the full package of interdepartmental transfers; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. The committee then approved minutes from the April 15, 2026 joint meeting with the school committee.

Under old business, the chair announced that two finance committee members, Mister Saint Jean and Eric Chu, would not continue on the finance committee and thanked them for their service. Members offered tributes; the committee noted there will be two open seats and instructed interested residents to submit letters of interest to the Board of Selectmen.

The committee did not set a next meeting date and adjourned. The chair encouraged residents to participate in town meeting and reminded the public that transfers of this type must meet statutory deadlines.

The Finance Committee's actions on July 15 were procedural allocations to balance the town's fiscal-year accounts; no new ordinances or long-term policy changes were adopted. The committee indicated it will continue recruiting to fill the two vacant seats and to pursue a permanent town accountant in the coming months.