SWAMPSCOTT — As budget pressure continues to mount, town leaders are starting to look beyond short-term fixes and toward long-term solutions to keep spending in check.
Members of the Finance Committee met Monday night for a lengthy line-item review of the first portions of the fiscal year 2027 budget. The budget was pushed through by the Select Board with significant reservations last week. Finance Committee members similarly emphasized the need for a clearer multi-year financial outlook, warning that without it, the town is at risk of making decisions that may not be sustainable.
“I feel like we’re in a vacuum right now,” said Finance Committee member Cinder McNerney. “Without having access to some kind of projected forecast of the next couple of years.”
Town Treasurer Patrick Luddy affirmed that such a forecast, which was also requested by the Select Board, is expected within the next two weeks as the town waits for firmer numbers on big cost drivers like new contracts for health insurance and solid waste, pension payout numbers, and anticipated revenue from new development.-
That broader view, the Finance Committee said, will be critical as the town weighs both immediate budget decisions and longer-term changes. Among those changes being discussed are shared-service models and regionalized services, which include some efforts that are already underway.
Swampscott is in the process of joining a regional information technology collaborative led by Danvers, which already includes several North Shore communities. The collaborative allows towns and cities to share and negotiate plans and services together, which can both lower costs and improve oversight.
“They do a lot of the strategic planning and thinking that we lack by not having an IT director,” Town Administrator Nick Connors said. He added that a collective also has an easier time managing a discount because they are negotiating with a larger pool of employees.
Swampscott also shares a building inspector with Nahant, who Connors said spends about 80% of their time in Swampscott, while Nahant pays a small portion of those salary costs. The savings there are small, but officials wondered if the model could be used to further cut down on costs in the long term in other positions, like in the Department of Public Health, or in other big contract expenses like solid waste.
The line-by-line discussion often focused on even the smallest savings, with members sharing concerns about where spending trends, particularly given that budget numbers have increased for two consecutive years now, could lead.
“We don’t want to have an override every year. We don’t want to end up like Marblehead with an $8 million budget gap,” McNerney said.
These detailed budget conversations aren’t just about saving the town money; they’re about planning for the long term, and that means keeping Swampscott residents in mind.
“Really, what I’d like to understand is what’s affordable. What’s sustainable?” McNerney said. “We can’t just keep taxing our way out of things. People aren’t going to want that.”
And that question, members said, is difficult to answer without a clearer picture of the town’s financial future.
For now, the Finance Committee is continuing its detailed review of the proposed budget while waiting for the long-term forecast that will help determine what level of spending the town can sustain, and whether broader changes may be needed to avoid more difficult decisions down the line.
