(2-25-26 Document #4) FinCom Minutes 7-9-25 (KM)

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Canton Finance Committee Meeting
Wednesday, July 9th, 2025, 7pm
Virtual Meeting


In Attendance: Emilio Mauro, Reuki Schutt, John Leonetti, Kristin Mirliani, & Cindy Thomas
Absent: n/a
William Scollins – Finance Director, Ellen Jones – Finance Secretary, Connor Murphy – Town Planner
CCTV Recording
Recording Secretary: Allison Neff (from recording)

Chairperson Mauro called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

REORGANIZATION of the FINANCE COMMITTEE

Mr. Mauro expressed his willingness to continue serving as Committee Chairperson.
Ms. Thomas made a motion for Emilio Mauro to be elected as Chairperson of the Canton Finance Committee. Ms. Schutt seconded the motion. No other members were nominated; nominations were closed. The motion passed 5-0-0.

Chairperson Mauro noted that Ms. Mirliani is not interested in continuing in the role of Vice Chair, but Ms. Schutt has expressed willingness. He thanked Ms. Mirliani for her service as Vice Chair.
Ms. Mirliani made a motion to elect Reuki Schutt as Vice Chair of the Canton Finance Committee. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion. No other members were nominated; nominations were closed. The motion passed 5-0-0.

Chairperson Mauro asked Ms. Jones to check with the Town Moderator to check on the status of filling Committee vacancies with new members or re-appointing past members who are willing to continue serving. Mr. Scollins noted he had reached out to the Moderator as well but had not yet heard back.

REVIEW and VOTE FY25 RESERVE FUND TRANSFER REQUESTS

Fiscal Year 2025 just ended; Mr. Scollins presented requests for transfers from the Reserve Fund to 8 budgets that are ending the fiscal year in deficit. The requests total $750,974.21; if approved by the Committee the entirety of the $600,000 Reserve Fund budget will be used, along with transfers from surplus in the Assessor’s budget in the amount of $75,000 and from surplus in the Town Counsel budget in the amount of $75,974.21.

The Department of Public Works finished the fiscal year with a $235,000.00 deficit due to extraordinary expenses for repair and maintenance of vehicles (approximately $176,000), overtime due to mechanic staffing shortage (approximately $20,000), overtime for Highway Maintenance (approximately $22,000), and Highway Maintenance Summer Help (approximately $40,000) due to extraordinary road and grounds work.
Based on a question from Mr. Leonetti, Mr. Scollins confirmed that “highway maintenance” in this context refers to all road work.

In “Snow and Ice” the fiscal year finished with a deficit of $195,774.27; while there were only four snow events there were 15 sand/salt events (and mostly on weekends which are overtime for employees). The Select Board was notified by the DPW Superintendent on February 18, 2025 that the budget was 80% expended at that time and expected to run out before the end of the winter season. Chairperson Mauro and Mr. Scollins confirmed that based on State rules snow and ice budgets cannot be reduced, only increased, so the Town’s budget is kept at $650,500 (which is the average amount needed each year).

The Canton Police Department finished the fiscal year with a $168,500.00 deficit due to the implementation of recommendations from 5 Stones Intelligence as reflected in the Police Audit. The deficit mainly consists of training expenses, overtime expenses, and class fees. If approved by the Committee, $17,529.79 of the deficit will be covered by funds transferred from the Finance Committee Reserve Fund, $75,000 from surplus in the Assessor’s budget, and $75,974.21 from surplus in the Town Counsel budget. A law change from 2006 allows for transfers from municipal departments that have surplus to those municipal departments with a deficit (Chapter 44, Section 38B).
Chairperson Mauro asked if the surplus in the Assessor’s budget was from their operating budget and Mr. Scollins responded affirmatively. Mr. Mauro confirmed with Mr. Scollins that this is the only request not being funded entirely from the Finance Committee’s Reserve Fund.

In “Compensated Absences” the fiscal year ended with a deficit of $72,969.10 due to employee retirements from Police, Fire, DPW, Water, Library, and the Board of Health.
Mr. Leonetti asked if these retirements were unexpected or anticipated but not budgeted for. Mr. Scollins responded that 2 of the 6 were anticipated while the rest were sudden. Based on further questions from Mr. Leonetti he clarified that there were 2 retirements from the Canton PD, but this did not include former Chief Rafferty whose retirement would be reflected at the end of fiscal year 2026, along with other expected retirements from the Canton PD. This budget was increased for FY26 so the same problem is not anticipated next summer.

In “Trash Collection” the fiscal year ended with a deficit of $49,200.00 due to the new contract with Republic Services being $55,000 higher than the budget (which was based on a lower bid). The new contract is $500,000 more expensive over the span of the 5 years, and the higher expense is built into the budget going forward.
Ms. Mirliani asked if there was a possibility of getting out of the contract based on current issue with Republic Services. Mr. Scollins stated that the Town Administrator is working with other town managers/administrators on a strategy to work with Republic on resuming service and being compensated for services covered by the Town during the Strike.

In the Town Clerk & Elections and Registrars Department the fiscal year ended with a deficit of $21,000.00 due to the Special Town Meeting in November and Special Town Election in December, both associated with the Galvin Middle School Debt Exclusion. Costs of $12,000 in additional Election Worker salaries and $11,600 in additional Police Details were incurred, along with other unbudgeted costs which were offset with a recurring State grant geared toward extraordinary polling hours, and ARPA funds, totaling $15,200.
Ms. Thomas noted that there is a Special Town Meeting in August and one in the fall and expressed concern about those not being included in the FY26 budget, which Mr. Scollins confirmed, and suggested the Town consider anticipating these type issues going forward when setting the Town Clerk budget. Mr. Scollins agreed, suggesting perhaps one special election or meeting should be assumed in each fiscal year going forward.
Mr. Mauro asked whether a budget adjustment should be considered at the fall STM based on the expected shortfall or if it can wait until the end of FY26; Mr. Scollins stated that he believed it could wait until the end of the fiscal year.
Mr. Leonetti brought up the “Move the Vote” initiative and the concerns about creating more work for the Town Clerk’s office and questioned if any of this overage was related to that. Mr. Scollins responded in the negative, confirming this was only related to the Galvin Middle School votes, though with further questioning it was clarified that there were costs related to that initiative which contributed to this total but were not enumerated here.

The Planning Board budget for the fiscal year ended with a deficit of $6,000 due to extraordinary advertising costs associated with publishing 13 Zoning Articles in the Canton Citizen for the Special Town Meeting and Annual Town Meeting, which exceeded the advertising budget by approximately $15,000.
Chairperson Mauro asked whether adjustments should be made to the budget going forward to address the increase in advertising costs in general; Mr. Scollins stated that the Planning Board doesn’t always know exactly how much advertising they will need each year, but noted that the question could be posed to that Board.

The Norfolk Agricultural High School budget for the fiscal year ended with a deficit of $2,530.84 due to Canton student enrollment being raised by 5 students (from 7 to 12) and tuition increased by 4.5%. Mr. Scollins noted that tuition was half the current rate only 3 years ago and student enrollment has averaged 8.6 for the 5 years prior to 2025. Mr. Scollins also noted that this is based on their own per student assessment which they can do under a law from the 1970s.
Chairperson Mauro asked if this meant an overage would be expected in the next year as well and Mr. Scollins stated that it wasn’t known for certain, but that the steep rise of cost dictated by the school would certainly make it more challenging to meet the costs within budget.
Ms. Mirliani asked if the Town has any control over how many students leave the Canton District to go to that school each year and Mr. Scollins responded in the negative.
Ms. Thomas asked if transportation was a different expense or included in this assessment. Mr. Scollins said it was included.
Chairperson Mauro noted that Blue Hill Regional meets with the Finance Committee each year and asked him and the rest of the Committee whether representatives for this school should be asked to meet with the Finance Committee along with other departments and committees for the next fiscal year and Mr. Scollins stated it would be appropriate.

Mr. Scollins reviewed the total being requested for approval, with $600,000 from the Reserve Fund, $75,000 from Assessor’s budget surplus, and $75,974.21 from the Town Counsel budget surplus for a total of $750,974.21.
Ms. Schutt made a motion to approve allocating the entirety of the $600,000 in the Reserve Fund, $75,000 from the surplus in the Assessor’s budget, and $75,974.21 from the surplus in the Town Counsel budget to the 8 expenses as presented to the Finance Committee in the documents shown. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion. There was no further discussion and the motion passed 5-0-0.

REVIEW and VOTE SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES – AUGUST 2025 STM, ARTICLE 2

Article 28 from the Annual Town Meeting in May had 2 technical items requiring amendment in order to be fully compliant with the FEMA flood program. Town Planner Murphy explained that they were informed that the Article didn’t contain correct language and 2 corrections were needed. 
The first correction is in Section 9.1.3; both maps will be dated July 8th, 2025, based on information received on May 29th, 2025, stating the Town must adopt and receive approval of floodplain management measures that satisfy federal regulations by that date in order to remain in good standing with the National Flood Insurance Program. The second correction is in Section 9.1.14; the language is repetitive with the preceding section and needs to be amended to reflect Variances from the Local Bylaw and not the Building Code.
Mr. Murphy has been in contact with state officials to work on becoming compliant as the Town in currently non-compliant due to the short timeline given. Ms. Mirliani asked if this meant the Town was not currently covered; Mr. Murphy explained that he requested a waiver but was denied, but those with a current flood coverage policy would remain covered, though new policies could not be activated until compliance is met. Ms. Mirliani followed up asking if notices were sent to residents about the situation; Mr. Murphy responded in the negative, stating that their focus has been on becoming compliant as soon as possible. Ms. Mirliani suggested something is sent to community members or at least posted on the website; Mr. Murphy agreed to work on that. Mr. Leonetti agreed with Ms. Mirliani and suggested a notice be posted in the Citizen, and Ms. Thomas agreed, stating that a website posting would be too passive and active communication is needed regarding this issue. Mr. Leonetti noted that a budget was approved at the last ATM for the Town Planners office to hire a communications person and this situation would likely fall under their job duties; he asked if someone had been hired yet and Mr. Scollins responded that the hiring was in process at this point. Mr. Mauro noted this would also impact new homeowners who may not be able to obtain flood insurance; he asked Mr. Murphy if there was any window of protection for that situation; Mr. Connor did not know for sure, but noted that he reviewed plans and confirmed that there are very few dwellings that are actually situated low enough to fall under this floodplain categorization.
Mr. Mauro asked if, as a Planning Article requiring a hearing that is posted in the newspaper, this hearing was in process. Mr. Murphy noted the date of the next Planning Board meeting later in July and stated he would work with the Canton Citizen on announcements regarding this issue. Mr. Leonetti reiterated the danger this period of non-coverage poses to those homeowners who are affected and the need for public communication about it.
Mr. Mauro noted for citizens watching the recording of the meeting the fact that this could not have been brought to a vote any more quickly due to Town Meeting procedures and rules and the need for this to go before the Select Board, Planning Board, Finance Committee, and others.
Mr. Scollins noted that there have been internal discussions regarding the Finance Committee report mailing that goes out to residents, which will cost approximately $5,000 but should be sent out as soon as possible after the Committee has done what they need to do. Mr. Mauro asked if this was an opportunity to include the list of impacted properties or a map of them, though noted this may bring up privacy concerns. Mr. Murphy responded that this may be possible but noted some of the challenges involved.
Mr. Leonetti pointed out that the agenda for this meeting states the Committee will vote on this article and include it in the mailing, but he wondered if the article may change before or during the Planning Board meeting on July 30th, but Mr. Murphy responded that he doesn’t anticipate any further changes to this article. Mr. Mauro asked what the mailing timeline would be, and Mr. Scollins responded that it would likely go to the printer on July 18th and there is no stated deadline for this report. Mr. Mauro suggested the Committee can move ahead with the motion as written under the assumption that the Planning Board would likely not make any further changes to the wording.
Ms. Schutt made a motion to support the expected Planning Board motion as shown in the documents presented. Mr. Leonetti seconded the motion. Motion discussion: Ms. Thomas asked whether it was appropriate to vote an anticipated motion. Ms. Schutt agreed and amended her motion.
Ms. Schutt made a motion to approve the Planning Board motion for the Special Town Meeting as it’s written currently. Mr. Leonetti seconded the motion. There was no further discussion and the motion passed 5-0-0.
Mr. Mauro noted that he wrote the Finance Committee discussion for this article and would amend it as needed for the article as it’s now presented, and asked Ms. Jones when that was needed by. She responded that it needed to be received before July 18th. Mr. Scollins suggested asking Mr. Murphy to have the Planning Board submit a discussion within that time frame as well.
Chairperson Mauro thanked Town Planner Murphy for his attendance and welcomed him to Canton.

REVIEW and VOTE SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES – AUGUST 2025 STM, ARTICLE 1, MOTION 1

Motion 1 of Article 1 sets the days and times for the Special Town Meeting.
Ms. Schutt made a motion to approve this motion as written and presented. Mr. Mirliani seconded the motion. There was no further discussion and the motion passed 5-0-0.

REVIEW and VOTE SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES – AUGUST 2025 STM, ARTICLE 1, MOTION 2

Motion 2 of Article 1 grants specific individuals the rights and privileges of participation in Town Meeting. Mr. Scollins stated that he updated the list from the 2025 Annual Town Meeting to be accurate to current employees and not include contractors who had been on the list but did not need to be for this Special Town Meeting. Mr. Mauro asked if anyone from the DCR should be included, but Mr. Murphy felt it was not necessary.
Mr. Leonetti suggested a correction to the list which Mr. Scollins agreed to make (correcting Walter Timilty’s title).
Ms. Schutt made a motion to accept Article 1, Motion 2, as presented with necessary corrections. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion. There was no further discussion and the motion passed 5-0-0.
Mr. Mauro noted that both those motions have standard discussions and edits were not needed; Mr. Scollins confirmed.

VOTE MINUTES – May 12, 2025

Chairperson Mauro brought up the minutes of the May 12, 2025, Finance Committee meeting preceding Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Leonetti noted a correction, stating that he did not speak with Mr. Trotta about funds for paving the roads, but rather spoke with Select Board member Loughran who had spoken to Mr. Trotta. Mr. Mauro suggested, and Mr. Leonetti agreed, that the words “spoken with Mr. Trotta and” should be struck and replaced with “heard”.
Ms. Schutt made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 12, 2025, Finance Committee meeting as written with the aforementioned correction made. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion and it passed 5-0-0.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next meeting date has yet to be determined. Chairperson Mauro expressed that he did not foresee a meeting being necessary before the STM.

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. Schutt made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:32pm. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion and it passed 5-0-0.

Minutes reviewed by: Kristin Mirliani

Respectfully submitted,

Emilio E. Mauro, Jr.
Chair, Canton Finance Committee



REFERENCED DOCUMENTS:
7/9/25 Agenda
Reserve Fund Transfer Documents
Article 28 Changes and Supporting Documents
ATM Article 1, Motions 1 & 2
5/12/25 Minutes