Town Meeting to tackle big decisions tonight

SAUGUS-Town Meeting members have only three financial articles to deal with when they reconvene tonight, but the impact of their decisions could be felt for months to come.The Finance Committee voted last week to refer articles seeking $330,000 to fund the teachers contract, $47,000 for a new police cruiser and $452,000 to purchase streetlights to the next special Town Meeting.The funding for the streetlight program, if approved would be borrowed.The other two articles would be funded through proposed surplus in the Group Health Insurance and rubbish disposal accounts, respectively.The Department of Revenue has made it clear in a letter to Town Manager Andrew Bisignani that it expects a plan for funding the teachers contracts before it would approve a tax rate.Bisignani said if Town Meeting follows the Finance Committee’s advice and refers the article to a future unspecified Town Meeting, it would likely cause a major cash flow problem for the town.Because the tax rate won’t be approved by the DOR, Bisignani said tax bills wouldn’t be able to be sent out, which means no cash would be coming in and the town would have to borrow money, costing thousands in interest rates.Police Chief James MacKay said he is concerned for the safety of his officers if Town Meeting fails to fund the purchase of a new cruiser. MacKay’s priority is to, at the very least, replace the Patrol Supervisor’s vehicle.He said he would also like to see a vehicle replacement plan put in place since all of his cruisers need to be replaced.Finance Committee members spent a good bit of time on the streetlight issue, but it appeared to be more out of curiosity then actual consideration of the project.Bisignani said he put the article on the warrant largely because the town’s auditors recommended it. Without it, Bisignani said the auditors would have made note of it in the year-end audit report, even though he said it would likely only save the town pennies in the end.Town Meeting kicks off tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall auditorium.