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FINCOM 20230306 Mintues

Finance Committee · Source meeting date: 2023-03-06 · Record 78437

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Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 3/29/23 
801 Washington Street vote: 8-0-0 
0 Canton, MA 02021 
Meeting Minutes 
March 6, 2023 
Finance Committee Members Present: Dave Clough, Dan Cole, Karen Foley, Emilio Mauro, Tim McKenna, 
Maureen Menconi and Cindy Thomas. 
Finance Committee Members Absent: Faulk! Schutt. 
Guests Present: 
Tom Birmingham, Sponsor of Article 28 
Charlie Doody, Town Administrator 
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Recording Secretary 
Tracy Kenney, Town Clerk 
Arafat Knight, Veterans' Agent 
Jody Middleton, Human Resource Director 
Randy Scollins, Finance Director 
Jennifer Wexler, Canton Residents for a Sustainable Equitable Future 
Call Meeting to Order: Ms. Thomas called the virtual meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 
Ms. Thomas reviewed the Finance Committee's agenda for the meeting stating that the Committee would be hearing 
about budget requests from the Human Resources Department, the Executive Office and the Veterans Agent. 
FY24 Municipal Budget Requests and Town Meetina Articles - Discussion 
Discussion of Article 26 — Accept Chapter 41 section 110A Town Clerk Saturday Hours —Tracy Kenney, 
Town Clerk 
Ms. Kenney discussed Article 26 and provided a list to the Finance Committee of all the Massachusetts communities 
that have accepted MGL Ch. 41 Section 110A (see meeting documents). The following is Information Ms. Kenney 
read from a prepared statement: 
By accepting MGL Ch. 4 t, Section 110A, when a voter registration deadline for a local election or town meeting falls on a Saturday, the 
deadline would revert back to the previous business day, Friday. 
The recently passed Votes Act changed the voter fogistration deadline from 20 days to 10 days before an election. Canton's elections are 
held on Tuesdays, therefore, the voter registration deadline will now fall on a Saturday and the Clerk's office must remain open from 9am to 
5pm if the deadline were on a Fdday, Instead of closing the office at rpm, as we normally do, we would remain open until Spun. 
Accepting this law would save the town the cost of having to pay overtime to a member of the maintenance staff to open and close the 
building on a Saturday and the overtime to a member of the Town Clerk staff. There is already a member of the maintenance staff working 
on Friday afternoons and the overtime paid to a member of the Clerk's staff would only be 4 hours on a Friday versus nine hours on a 
Saturday. 
The last day to register to vote typically generates little, if any, activity. By accepting this section of the law we would not be 
disenfranchising anyone from registering to vote, as there are many options for citizens to register to vote, such as: 
Registering in person, by mail, online or through the Registry or Motor Vehicles, and we advertise the deadlines accordingly. 60 
communities have already accepted this law. 4 other communities are proposing acceptance of the law at their town meetings this spring. 
Vote - Article 26 — Accept Chapter 41 section 110A Town Clerk Saturday Hours - A motion made by Mr. Mauro 
that the Finance Committee recommend to Town Meeting Article 26 as written In the warrant was seconded 
by Ms. Foley. 
Roll Call Vote: 
Ms. Menconi Aye Mr. Clough Aye 
Mr. McKenna Aye Mr. Mauro Aye 
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Thomas Aye 
Mr. Cole Aye 
Roll Call Vote: 7-0-0. 
FINCOM 20230306 Minutes WRS KF.docx Page 1 of 8 3/18/23