Town Meeting Business Not Finished Yet

Town meeting 2011 in Lynnfield has now come and gone, but that doesn't mean the town's budget situation is much closer to being resolved for the year.

Much of the attention in the weeks leading up to town meeting was focused on new revenue-raising proposals such as a 0.75 percent local option meals tax and the pay as you go trash proposal, which had been rejected in the past by town voters.

In fact, a fair number of town voters began clearing out of the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium almost immediately after the rejection of pay as you throw, indicating the importance many of them placed on this particular issue.

"You tonight are the government of the town of Lynnfield," moderator David Miller told the gathering as deliberations got underway.

Video Presentation Focused On Pay As You Throw, Town Deficit

Selectman Al Merritt essentially led the effort to approve pay as you throw in Lynnfield this year. In previous weeks, Merritt has noted that he only came to support pay as you throw after it was revealed in February that the town would be facing staggering increase in its health insurance expenses, contributing to a $1.5 million budget deficit.

In contrast, fellow selectman Arthur Bourque suggested that a proposition 2 1/2 override vote would be more desirable than implementing the new trash program.

"The town has a strong history of doing the right thing when it goes to the polls," said Bourque. Finance Committee member Tom Kayola also suggested that an override vote is "a more efficient way to solve this budget gap."

In a last-minute bid to sell the pay as you throw proposal, a 23-minute video was shown featuring Merritt and Town Administrator Bill Gustus discussing the town's fiscal situation and ways to resolve it. While expenses like employee health premiums have garnered much of the town's attention leading up to town meeting time, Gustus noted at another point that funds from FY12 will be needed to pay for this past winter's snow removal – further adding to the current budget pinch.

Town Accountant Gets Some Unexpected Attention

After pay as you throw was rejected, those who did remain in the audience were treated to an occasionally convoluted debate that basically focused on $5,000 out of town accountant Julie McCarthy's salary.

With the warrants out of the way, the meeting had turned its focus to approval and discussion line by line of the 100-plus items in the town budget. However, this would not get particularly far.

Early in the process, a citizen inquired about the 9.5 percent salary increase provided for McCarthy in the current budget, which would have brought her salary from $77,626 to $85,000. Several town officials were quick to defend McCarthy as an outstanding town employee who provides highly specialized services,  and who is paid relatively less than some peers in surrounding towns.

Still, some audience members expressed dismay that any town employee would be getting a raise of that size in one particular fiscal year, although in most other cases, the raises are part of union contracts. What followed was a series of debate points and motions involving McCarthy's salary and those of others in the town that lasted almost up toward the adjournment of the meeting around 11 p.m. Voters ended up approving a motion to bring her salary back down from $85,000 to $80,000.

So What's Next?

Voters are asked to return to the Lynnfield Middle School on Monday night, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. to finish the business of approving the budget line items. However, the rejection of pay as you throw also raises the likelihood that voters will be asked to consider a Proposition 2 1/2 override in the coming weeks.

Town officials have warned for weeks that another result of rejecting pay as you throw could be increased reluctance among the municipal unions to accept $750,000 in concessions on their healthcare premiums.

If voters do not approve an override and if other savings, such as the previously mentioned healthcare concessions, fail to materialize, more than 50 town employees across a number of departments, including  DPW, public safety, and schools, could end up being laid off.

A substantial portion of these cuts would apparently affect teachers and other school district employees. However, town officials have also warned that these layoffs would carry their own financial burdens - specifically, some $600,000 in unemployment costs.