The Swampscott Finance Committee spent Monday night analyzing the town’s operating budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald first presented the budget of $81,233,644 to the Select Board earlier this month. The amount has increased by 2.9% in comparison to FY24. Its seven key funding areas are public education, general government, enterprise funds, public safety, public services, human services, and community development. Public education and general government were the two largest percentage portions of the budget, at 40.2% and 33.4% respectively.
With the assistance of Director of Finance and Administration Amy Sarro and Town Treasurer Patrick Luddy, the Committee reviewed specific line items within the budget’s categories.
Committee member Erik Schneider expressed concern that the budget’s amount might be too optimistic, in that it could ultimately end up being more expensive than anticipated. Sarro answered that she has not received official quoters on either property casualty insurance or worker’s compensation, but that she’s all right with the project numbers.
“We feel comfortable with the number we put in there right now,” Sarro said.
Sarro later revealed that the Hadley property will become part of the town’s budget on July 1 as it is no longer an educational facility. Fitzgerald allocated $50,000 in a reserve fund to pay for utilities until the property developer takes up ownership.
“Obviously the intention is not for us to keep Hadley as a town building,” Sarro said. “We’re just keeping it warm enough that the pipes don’t burst,” Sarro said.
She added however any unforeseen maintenance to Hadley that exceeds the allocated amount would have to come out of the town budget as opposed to the reserve fund.
When reviewing the portion of the budget that pertained to the police, Sarro explained that the largest cost increase came in the amount of $50,000 for body cameras. Committee Chair Eric Hartmann asked why the cost of training saw a 40% increase, and Sarro informed him that a deputy chief and captain from the police department intend to retire during the fiscal year. Therefore, their replacements will require training.
With further analysis slated to come from the Finance Committee and other parties, the Select Board is scheduled for a final vote on the budget on April 17.
