SAUGUS — A special Town Meeting set for Monday, Dec. 6 will focus on four finance-related matters, Town Manager Scott Crabtree told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.
The warrant for the meeting, which will convene at 7 p.m., will include four articles regarding the town’s stabilization fund, free cash, taxes, and cleaning up the town’s finances.
The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to approve Crabtree’s request for this special Town Meeting. Crabtree reassured the board that the town was on solid financial footing.
“Just like we are seeing at a national level, we are seeing at a local level (that) we are in a good, solid financial position, (in) that we are able to use stabilization (funds) to fill those projected expenses,” said Crabtree. “We are in a really good financial position, where we can stabilize on a short-term basis.”
This will be the second special Town Meeting this fall. On Oct. 18, Town Meeting members voted on whether to approve funding for the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School.
Approval from the Board of Selectmen allows the town clerk to post a notice for the special Town Meeting and allows the Finance Committee to make recommendations on the four articles during their Dec. 1 meeting; these recommendations will also be shared during the Town Meeting.
Crabtree told the board that Saugus remains in a good position financially, despite the challenges that have been presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was optimistic that the town’s financial outlook will continue to improve once things return to normal. In addition, he said the town will continue to seek grant funding with the aim of providing relief for the town’s budget and taxpayers.
“Any way we can save money and use money that is grant money, that will relieve the taxpayer or our budget,” said Crabtree.
