LYNNFIELD — Despite an aggressive campaign to slash department budgets, the town is facing a significant shortfall and will be asking voters to approve a $4.65 million override at a Special Election on June 4.
A successful override will cost $898.72 per average assessed home of $1,045,013.
The town has not faced an override since 2012. Town Administrator Rob Dolan said it’s a “unique situation that a top-tiered community has been able to go this long without one. MarketStreet has saved the town three or more overrides over that time.”
In anticipation of what he’s been describing as a “budget crisis” the last few years, Dolan said every town department was instructed to cut their non-staff operating budgets by 2% and that a spending freeze went into effect April 1.
“We have not just gone to the public and asked for more,” Dolan said. “We have made several important administrative choices before we have gone to the public.”
Early retirement and insurance opt-out and incentive programs have been offered to some department heads. In addition, every employee in the town has been offered an insurance opt-out, which in the case of a family would represent a savings to the town of $30,000 per family.
With respect to rising health insurance costs, Dolan said, “the only way for us to lower costs” is through opt-out offers and incentives.
The town is looking to maximize regionalization. The Recreation Department is fully funded on its own and not under the town’s budget.
“Programs have to pay for themselves,” Dolan said.
The town is also studying its options to privatize the golf course operation.
Despite those aggressive cost-cutting measures, the town-side budget still faces a shortage of $411,313.
SCHOOLS
Schools represent the largest chunk of the deficit at $4,238,687 (including $200,000 for buses and $650,000 in technology). Despite town-wide efforts to cut department budgets, the schools proposed a budget with an 11% increase over last year.
“We’re one town, but this is really a school-based override,” Dolan said.
School Superintendent Thomas Geary said the “override is critical to preserving the high quality education Lynnfield families expect and deserve. Without it, we face difficult reductions that will negatively impact our students’ learning experience. Simply put, this would decimate our schools. Every student and family will be impacted by having increased class sizes, decreased staffing levels, less course offerings, and increased activity and athletic fees.”
According to School Committee Chair Kristen Elworthy, the district will be forced to cut 56 staff members.
“If the override fails, the impact to our school district would be devastating,” Elworthy said. “It essentially will deteriorate the very things that make Lynnfield a desirable district.
Elworthy said a failed override will eliminate kindergarten paraprofessionals, all interventionists and a high school adjustment counselor and technology capital needs won’t be met.
“The override is critical to the town,” Crawford said. “The majority of the override is directly related to our school system and funding the collective bargaining agreement currently being negotiated between the school committee and the Massachusetts Teachers Association. It also funds a much-needed upgrade to our schools’ technology.”
If successful, the override will restore $3,388,698 to the district’s budget.
FIRE
Dolan said that cuts to the police and fire departments are a different consideration as “they’re about saving lives.”
Fire Chief Glenn Davis said the department’s staff levels and ability to respond in emergencies is a risk. The department was one of nine in the United States to receive a SAFER grant, which allowed the department to hire four full-time firefighters. That grant, however, may be at risk due to a condition that the town must match the grant in the fourth year of the grant.
“We will need to find the money to stay at that level and not lose the grant. We need to respond with two pieces of equipment; responding with one puts lives at risk, and that’s unacceptable,” Davis said. “A no vote means that’s in jeopardy as we will have to run short staffed. We’ve worked hard to bring the department forward into the future with adequate staff levels and it would be a shame to lose that.”
Dolan echoed Davis’ sentiments: “We’re talking about at night when that truck is out there is a completely empty fire department. If another person calls with an emergency, they have to wait and see if a call firefighter will respond to their crisis. This is a risk to our ability to save lives.”
POLICE
In terms of the police department, Dolan said that in order to meet minimum contractual staffing requirements of three officers on the street and a sergeant, overtime is required.
Police Chief Nick Secatore said the department’s budget had been reduced in response to the town’s request to all departments to cut by 2%, but the cuts did not affect existing staff positions.
“We cut our expense account the same way the other departments did, but we need to add positions to maintain a high staff level. Only then can we predict the overtime and budget for it,” Secatore said. “That’s the most important thing for us. If we get into a position where we can’t fill a position because of the town’s fiscal position, then we end up forcing overtime and are back in that cycle which we have been trying to break.
“We are coming very close to it because while we will be able to hire some of what we need, we won’t be able to hire all we need. We want to stay on the path we’ve been on and not be in that cycle.”
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
DPW Director John Scenna said the department has undergone a permanent reorganization that includes the elimination of two administrative positions and the elimination of two school buses at a cost of $200,000. If successful, the override will restore that $200,000.
“We reduced our budget in any way we could to sustain and support our facilities, fields, cemeteries, grounds and open space,” Scenna said. “Our staff won’t be impacted, but our ability to deliver services to the town in terms of projects we do everyday, but we won’t be able to do those if the override doesn’t pass.”
Dolan said many roads projects may be at risk because many are funded through matching-grant mandates.
“Our roads budget is from free cash, but as pressure continues on the operating budget to sustain services, free cash will plummet and If we can’t match the grant, we won’t be eligible for grants and those projects can’t be done,” Dolan said.
LIBRARY
According to Library Director Abby Porter, a no vote will have a devastating effect on library services, starting with the elimination of 2/3 of the staff, significantly cut programming and reduced hours with the library closed on Saturdays and “most evenings.” The library will also lose its certification and “lose access to public libraries in other municipalities, including access to 59 million books, movies and other materials across the state.
If successful, the override will restore $400,524 to the library budget.
SENIOR CENTER
The Senior Center has made deep cuts including the elimination of administrative staff “to try to limit the direct effect on services.”
“The Senior Center is a critical piece to our community,” Dolan said. “It provides all types of services for our senior citizens and is among the best in the commonwealth.”
If successful, the override will restore $149,584 to the Senior Center budget.
SUMMARY
Crawford said an override will also “protect our capital budget so we can continue to furnish the needs for all town departments.”
“This is not simply a Lynnfield problem,” Dolan said. “More overrides are already being proposed in 2025 than since 2 1/2 was passed in the early 1980s. At the core of it is that unless local towns come up with funds, there is no one else to pay. Nobody has a solution; it doesn’t exist.To continue to rely on local aid is folly. Nobody has a solution because it doesn’t exist and no one is coming to help us.”
