Minutes

Finance Commission · from the Town's website · 1 page · 62 KB
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Winthrop Finance Commission Minutes

Date:

Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 6:00pm

Attendees: TOW: Tony Marino (TM), Sarah Johnson (SJ), Robbie Powers (RP)

FC: Brent Farrell (BF), Shannon Poulos (SP), Karin Chavis (KC), William Gault (WG), Matt
Gorzkowicz (MG), Joe Hanlon (JH), John DaRos (JD), Hannah Belcher (HB)
Absent: Max Tassinari, John Macero

Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm by MG.

Rollcall vote completed by KC. All present except individuals noted above.

Focus of meeting will be on overview of the proposed town budget from TM.

TM Presentation & Discussion re: FY 2026 Budget

Includes recent town vote for fire department station construction and $3.5MM override
New growth of $350K budgeted versus $407K actual last year
GIC insurance went up 15.3% from last year, higher than last years increase of ~10%
o Insurance subcommittee being established
o Line item expense increase was roughly $500K
Police chief will assume responsibility of Harbormaster, with assistant harbormaster being hired to
implement changes to increase security and revenue
Somerset apartment building conversion to condominiums underway
Budget will be presented to the town council on April 15
Collective bargaining ~ 1 of 5 union groups have finalized, others underway
TM is working with parks and recreation for a new location
Garbage removal contribution by town was reduced from $600K to $400K
For fire department bond offering expecting ~4.75% with 25 year amortization in current environment

Various discussion points amongst the members included:

Expectation is for town council to approve budget on June 17"

Presentation from finance commission to occur on June 3°

Meeting on April 16" expected to cover budget discussion with TM and other topics

School department scheduled to present on May 1

Request for salaries and benefits by position for 2025 FY and 2026 budget for both town and school
employees

Request to the school department for a listing of headcount for the prior year and projected upcoming
year, with salary, stipends, OT, etc. by head again both actual and projected

KC motioned to adjourn; JH seconded. Approved by all present members.

Meeting adjourned at 6:58 pm.