SAUGUS — One key fact about the formation of a Charter Commission has flown under the radar throughout election season this fall — it comes with a cost.
State law dictates that a commission must pay for a variety of fixed costs, which Peter Manoogian, who chaired the most recent commission formed in the town, estimated cost the board roughly $40,000 to $45,000. The commission was formed in 2007 and concluded its work in 2009. Adjusted for inflation, those costs are now estimated at between $57,000 and $64,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If Question 1 passes on Tuesday, the town would be required to allocate $5,000 to the commission, a figure that has not been adjusted in decades, said Michael Ward, the director of the Collins Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The town would also be required to give office space and “reasonable access to other facilities for holding public hearings,” according to Mass. General Law.
For his part, Anthony Cogliano, who led the petition drive to get the charter question on the ballot this fall, said he intended to ask for as little funding as possible from the town should the question pass.
Manoogian, more than a decade ago, sought a $30,000 appropriation from the Town Meeting, but Cogliano indicated he would go a different route.
“No one in this town generates money for it like I do,” he said. “I don’t want the town to pay an expense.”
“If I can find a way to self-fund the costs, I will do that,” Cogliano added.
Indeed, state law permits the commission to take in funding from outside sources as long as the contributions are disclosed to the town clerk.
Already, Cogliano and other supporters of Question 1 have committed considerable funding to their campaign, with “yes” signs cropping up across town, newspaper ads backing candidates, and mailers sent to residents.
If they are ultimately successful, the costs would rack up quickly.
In addition to refunding members for costs incurred in the performance of their duties, the body would be required to publish the report it submits to the attorney general’s office for review, which would include the text of the charter or charter revision the body intends to put before voters, in a “newspaper of general circulation.” The body would also be required to provide the town clerk’s office with enough copies of its report to be mailed to each registered voter who requests a copy and two copies each to the attorney general’s office and the Office of Housing and Community Development.
Then, once the proposal wins approval from state officials, the commission would be responsible for distributing its final report to “each residence of one or more registered voters” no later than two weeks prior to the election where it would be on the ballot. And additional copies would need to be filed with the clerk’s office for “distribution to registered voters requesting the same, and one such copy shall be posted in his office.”
One expense not required by law but likely to be taken on by the commission is that of an outside consultant to help guide the process.
A charter commission in Framingham, the last community in the state to undergo the shift from town government to city government, enlisted the services of the Collins Center at UMass Boston (fittingly named for a former Saugus town manager) at a cost of $28,000 for attendance at up to 20 meetings. The center then quoted the commission a fee of $1,000 for each additional meeting it sought support beyond the initial 20.
While it’s not clear who the Saugus Commission would hire, at what cost, or even how many meetings it would conduct, the commission chaired by Manoogian met a whopping 65 times.
