Charlestown tree board asks council to set aside Tree City USA funds; council refers request to finance and Parks & Rec

Aaron Mori, introduced to the council as Tree Board chair, requested that the Tree City USA funds — "about $11,000 and change, dollars 12,000" — be designated as a discrete budget line for the tree board rather than flowing into the maintenance budget. Mori said the tree board has responsibilities under the city’s ordinances that go beyond volunteer plantings, including preparing a tree plan and coordinating green infrastructure, and that a dedicated budget would let the board seed projects and match state grants that require local expenditure before reimbursement.

Mori told council that without a separate allocation the board lacks the financial capacity to carry out projects, buy supplies or advance grant proposals. "If we had our own even $12,000 budget, we could do incremental. The tree board could expend $10,000 as part of a grant proposal... and then we'd roll that into the next grant," he said.

Council members debated whether creating a separate line-item is a finance staff decision or a policy choice for council. Some members argued the council should retain control of the city's purse and prefer project-level requests routed through existing budget processes; others said a streamlined process and a liaison between staff and the tree board would help. A motion to refer the request to Finance and Parks & Rec for review and recommendation was made and called; the motion carried by voice vote.

Council directed staff to work on a clearer liaison and process for tree-board requests and to return with options for structuring the budget line and potential partial allocations for the first year.

The referral means the finance office and Parks & Rec will review the request and report back with options for how to budget the Tree City USA funds and whether to create a dedicated line item.