MARBLEHEAD – With the passing of Article 22 at Town Meeting Wednesday night, the town voted that the sum of $119,479,480 would be raised and appropriated for the fiscal year 2026 budget, which begins July 1. Of that total sum, $106,206,380 is to be raised from taxation and other available funds, and $13,273,100 is to be appropriated from available enterprise funds.
The conversation Wednesday began with Molly Teets, Finance Committee vice chair, who explained “some of the minor details surrounding this year’s budget and the overall financial condition of our town.” She said that “the official budget cycle began with our finance director and retirement administrator presenting the revenue forecast to both the Select Board and the Finance Committee.”
“The revenue forecast for fiscal year 26 is $5.6 million above the forecast revenues included in last year’s balanced operating budget,” Teets said. “That’s a 6 percent increase in available revenue to fund operating expenses.”
Teets added that the main expenses driving the overall operating budget increase of 6% were:
- Salaries and wages, “which are growing at 4-4.5% and reflect the impact of the multiple collective bargaining agreements settled during the fiscal year”;
- Benefits, “including health insurance expenses, which are increasing by 8-10% this year”;
- Pension assessment, “which is increasing by 8-9%”;
- Utility costs, “which are up 5%”;
- And inflation, “which has resulted in a significant pressure on the operating budget over the last few years.”
Moderator Jack Attridge then began reading each line item to the crowd, cracking a joke at the first one. “It starts out with my favorite line,” he said. “Moderator: $100.” As he read each line item, those in attendance had the ability to yell out “Hold” to allow for public comment and more discussion about those budget items.
Town counsel’s budget of $115,000 was the first of three items held. A community member wanted to know the difference between the $2,000 salary and the $13,000 expenses.
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer explained that the salary covers the town counsel “who basically handles our parking ticket appeals, so that’s being paid to the attorney as a salary.” He added that the $113,000 is because “our legal services for our firm is through a contract, so it’s a contract of services.”
The Community Development and Planning Department’s $494,402 budget was the next item held. Emily DeJoy was the sponsor of Article 47, which asked the Town to vote to eliminate the position of sustainability coordinator. The Article was indefinitely postponed, and DeJoy used this time during the budget discussion to “hear from our town administrator regarding recent staffing decisions.”
In short, she wanted to know why the Community Development and Planning Department had five staff members when, in the past, it was run with just one person. Kezer explained that the town planner retired last year, and he realized that one person was doing the job of many.
“As an organization, having one person holding down multiple roles, the question that automatically raises is: What are we not doing for the community?” Kezer said. “When I came into Marblehead with my experience, I recognized the fact that Marblehead is very proud of its community character, its historic prowl, of its historic structures in the community.
“It is also very densely settled in the community, and given those reasons, my assessment was: We needed a department of folks who are focused on protecting and enhancing the character and historical nature and dealing with the challenges of a dense population.”
He further explained that the Marblehead Net Zero Roadmap, which was drafted in February 2023, explicitly asks for the Town to hire a sustainability coordinator as part of the Roadmap’s implementation in order to help Marblehead reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
The other two community members who spoke during this portion of the meeting praised Sustainability Coordinator Logan Casey for his work.
The final item held was the $2,301,042 budget for Public Works (Highway, Tree, Drains). The community member who spoke during public comment had a personal issue regarding a stop sign that he put up himself, and Attridge suggested he connect with Director of Public Works Amy McHugh after Town Meeting.
Once the budget discussion ended, the town voted 11 separate times to approve the total budget one chunk at a time. Despite the holds, each budget individually passed, passing the budget in its entirety. In fact, every budget line passed with at least 90% of voters in favor, except for the school department budget, which passed with 88% in favor.
