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February 14, 2024, Finance Committee Remote Meeting. Minutes
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Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 2/28/24
801 Washington Street Vote: 8-0-0
Canton, MA 02021
Meeting Minutes
February 14, 2024
Finance Committee Members Present: Dan Cole, Karen Foley, Emilio Mauro, Tim McKenna, Kristin Mirliani and
Cindy Thomas.
Finance Committee Members Absent: Dave Clough, Maureen Menconi and Reuki Schutt.
Guests Present:
Andrea Capone, Library Director
Charlie Doody, Town Administrator
Ellen Jones, Recording Secretary
Jen Kemalian, Executive Assistant
Randy Scollins, Finance Director
Ed Wash, Building Commissioner
Call Meeting to Order: Ms. Thomas called the virtual Zoom Finance Committee meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Review of the Agenda – Ms. Thomas reviewed the agenda items that included FY25 budget discussions with the
Library Director, the Building Commissioner, and the Town Administrator.
Discussion - FY25 Municipal Budget Requests
#610 – Library FY25 Budget Requests – Andrea Capone, Library Director
Ms. Capone discussed the following FY25 budget requests for the Library:
• The Director has goals for the Library budget: have the operating budget meet the demands for the
department, have a budget that meets demands for the coming year, meet certain metrics that the state
requires for the library to remain certified.
• The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners requires a Library Director that has a Master’s Degree
and a minimum hours open requirement (currently open 56 hours per week exceeding the state’s requirement)
for the library.
• The state requires the minimum budget for the Library be the average of the past three years plus 2½%.
• The Library has a materials expenditure requirement, which is to spend a minimum of 15% of its budget on
materials that can be loaned out to the public (books, magazines, periodicals, etc.).
• The Library will be faced with a new census figure that will affect requirements by the state with regard to their
operations and budget. Based on new census figures the Library will soon have to be open more than 60
hours per week.
• Based on surveys with the public, there is a request for the Library to be open with Sunday hours. Seventeen
Norfolk County Libraries are open on Sundays. The Canton Library does not have staffing levels in place to
support additional hours on Sunday. Last year the Library was approved for a Young Adult staff position.
• Ms. Capone is requesting a new position for an Assistant Library Director with an annual salary of $67,200;
an increase of $5,100 for page salaries; and a $4,600 increase to the overtime budget (to pay for obligated
contractual time for union employees who may work for staffing coverage).
• With regard to expenses, Ms. Capone is requesting $5,000 for computer repair and maintenance, a $1,000
increase for telephones, $800 for network fee contractual, $500 for computer supplies, $500 for staff training
and meetings.
• To meet demands, an $18,000 increase from $32,500 to $50,000 to the Digital Information and a $13,000
increase from $50,500 to $63,000 for E-Books.
• Total FY25 Library request for an increase of $114,660.
Ms. Thomas inquired about the timing of the census data and the requirement for the Town to increase to 60 hours.
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners pulls the annual census data from the Department of Revenue (who
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has census data they are collecting annually and compiled but the data is not available immediately). The data could
be a year or two years old. Upon recent check of the data, Ms. Capone was informed that it was 2022 numbers that
are currently used and it has not yet been updated to reflect 2023 census numbers. Once the Town reaches the next
population category, the Library will have to increase their staffing (two additional full-time positions). The
Massachusetts Library Board of Commissioners understands that there could be a timing issue and allows a 3-year
grace period. Ms. Capone is requesting an increase to her staffing now with the hope that in 2 years when they are
required to be open 60 hours per week that she would only have to request 2-3 part-time non-benefits eligible, 19-hour
per week positions.
Ms. Mirliani, the Finance Committee liaison to the Library, recently met with Ms. Capone. While the Town has not yet
moved into the next population category of 25,000 or more, Ms. Mirliani is fully supportive of the additional staff request
and the move towards being open on Sundays now.
Mr. Mauro supported the library being open on Sundays and he also inquired if the move from one population Category
to another had any other requirements that had to be met with regard to building capacity, such as area sizes or any
other type of requirements or is just increasing the capacity by increasing the hours to be open more hours. Ms.
Capone stated that if the Town is in a certain population category the Town must meet the requirements for the number
of hours for that category. She stated there is some flexibility in that if the Town only met 90% of the required open
hours the Town may not receive all of the funds from the state but it could still be certified. She stated that this is
always a risk. If Canton is in full compliance with the Library Board of Commissioner’s requirements (which the Town
is), they will receive all of the state funding which can be spent on programs, materials, and events for the community
Mr. Mauro inquired about E-Books. In the past there has been difficulty with E-Books because of the way licenses
occur versus print books. Libraries pay a different price for purchasing E-Books than what a consumer would pay.
Has that issue improved? Ms. Capone stated that there is legislation being proposed at the State House. Mr. Comeau
(who is one of nine Library Board Commissioners) stated that the Library Board of Commissioners is actively engaged
in this legislation at the state level, which is currently in committee with the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and
Cultural Development with the idea of putting those E-Books on an even playing field with printed materials. The Town
not only pays more for the books but the books, after purchase, may time out. When an E-Book hits a certain threshold,
the license is taken away and must be purchased again, again, and again.
Mr. Cole inquired about the Assistant to the Department Head position. The Library previously had in their budget a
Librarian that was the Technical Services Librarian who retired. This individual also received a stipend that was a form
of seniority stipend. When the individual retired, the stipend was not needed. However, the Library still does have a
Technical Services Librarian who is earning much less than her predecessor of almost 40 years. Ms. Capone is seeking
to add a new position to the staffing, an Assistant Library Director, who will work primarily in the Children’s Room. This
new staff person will also assist Ms. Capone.
Mr. Cole also inquired about the $5,000 request for repair/maintenance of computers. Ms. Capone prefers to repair
equipment instead of replacing equipment. Year to date expenses for this budget line item are $4,320.
Mr. Comeau, on behalf of the Library Board of Trustees, thanked the Finance Committee for their amount and level of
support given to the Library and Ms. Thomas reciprocated the Finance Committee’s appreciation of all the library does
for the town. The Library FY25 budget discussion ended at approximately 7:35 p.m.
#241 – Building Department and #176 Zoning Board FY25 Budget Requests – Ed Walsh, Building
Commissioner
Mr. Walsh is requesting the following for FY25:
• The addition of a Part-time Local Building Inspector. This would be a 25-hour position for an annual
cost for the first year of $44,964, plus an additional cost of $540 for the State required 45-hour continuing
education for every three-year cycle. Currently, the Building Department operates with 53 hours of weekly
inspectional services between Mr. Walsh’s 40-hour per week position along with a 13-hour per week Local
Inspector position. The 53 hours is a reduction in inspectional hours since 2003 when the Assistant Local
Inspector, Chris Laskey, and Mr. Walsh had 59 hours of inspections per week.
• Approximately 7 years ago, the Town attempted to hire a part-time inspector, which was a 15-hour position,
non-benefits eligible. Two applicants applied as a result of the advertisement in the local inspector’s paper
and local papers. The position was not filled because the two applicants did not have the qualifications to fill
the position. Most towns have part-time local inspectors (examples: Dedham, Norwood, Westwood, Milton).
Some towns have full-time local inspectors (examples: Brewster and Harwich).
• Should the current part-time local inspector retire, Mr. Walsh does not think it will be easy to fill the position.
By requesting the 25-hour position now, they will be able to be trained (3 exams to be a certified local
inspector). In the future, the two part-time positions could be merged into one full-time Local Inspector position
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which could provide the Town with more continuity and consistency with enforcement. Building permits in the
past five years are 90% greater than the building permits issued in the five years previous to that.
• Total FY25 budget increase being requested for the Building Department is $42,504. There is no
budget increase being requested for the Zoning Department.
FY25 Budget Requests for the following Departments – Charlie Doodie, Town Administrator and Jen Kemalian,
Executive Assistant
#129 – Executive Office, #151 – Town Counsel, #946 – Town Insurance and #422 – Street Lighting
Mr. Doody and Ms. Kemalian presented the following FY25 budget requests:
• A change in title for Ms. Kemalian’s Executive Assistant position to Assistant Town Administrator.
This would be a $13,000 increase for this position and an increase from 35 hours to 40 hours per week.
(A 2-page detailed document of the additional duties assigned to the Executive Assistant was screen shared
with the Finance Committee. Many of the members were viewing this for the first time.)
Mr. Doody spoke about the importance of having a chain of command in the Fire Department when he served as the
Fire Chief. He further stated that missing in the Executive Office is someone to assume his duties when he is out of
the office along with decision-making authority particularly since he has increased the duties for the position. Mr. Doody
is promoting succession planning within the Town.
Mr. Mauro, the Finance Committee liaison to the Executive Office, spoke in support of the above request.
• An increase of $12,400 from $9,600 to $22,000 to the Communications budget line item. In FY24 Mr.
Doody engaged the services of a public relations firm, JGPR (John Guilfoil Public Relations) to handle the
Town’s press releases and new items. Recently, the Executive Office has had an increased need for other
services, in particular social media in managing the Town’s social media. They would like to engage this firm
in training town employees in social media accounts as well as crisis communication training.
• Other increases include $100 to the Dues line item and $2,000 for the Town Administrator’s contractual
obligation for a life insurance policy.
• Total FY25 budget increase being requested for the Executive Office is $27,538.
Mr. Mauro spoke about the importance of the $12,400 increase to the Communications line item as an important
component for moving forward, so that the Town is able to respond to communications with social media in a way that
is up with the speed of those various media platforms. He further stated that the “landscape” is changing with how the
population gets information, which can be accurate or inaccurate. The Town can move forward in a way that helps
make sure correct information is distributed to people that might have the potential to otherwise only have
misinformation that might be circulating as well as allowing emergency management to make sure people get the
messages that the Town is trying to distribute quickly and efficiently.
Ms. Foley inquired about the Vehicle Expenses line item.
• Mr. Doody reported that the prior Town Administrator did not have a vehicle. As part of Mr. Doody’s
employment agreement, he has a town-issued vehicle. There was no budget line item in the Executive Budget
to cover vehicle repairs/oil changes/expenses. Mr. Doody is requesting $3,000 as a Vehicle Expenses
Line Item to his budget for FY25.
#151 Town Counsel - FY25 Budget Request
• A 15% increase, or $32,331 increase, is being requested for the Town Counsel FY25 budget. This relates to
Town Counsel’s request for a 15% increase to his hourly rate. Mr. Doody stated that Mr. Derensis’ hourly rate
($200 per hour) was very reasonable for many years. Town Counsel asked for this to increase to $230 per
hour. The reason the increase is being requested is because of the increase in usage (Special Town
Meetings, real estate transactions, etc.) of the Town Counsel. Some services are provided through retainer
but there are other services that are provided for which the Town is charged an hourly rate.
Ms. Mirliani stated that she was impressed with Town Counsel’s rate considering the general prevailing hourly rates for
attorney fees. She also asked how often as a community does the Town reevaluate who is the Town Counsel?
Mr. Doody stated that Brooks & DeRensis has been the Town Counsel since the early 2000’s. Mr. Doody is not
opposed to doing an RFP (Request for Proposals) for legal services to do comparisons to see what is available.
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#946 Town Insurance – FY25 Budget Request
Ms. Kemalian provided the following information regarding the FY25 Budget Request:
• The Town Insurance budget is based on projections provided by the Town’s insurance agent. The projections
are based on the current insurance market values. Some of the policies are expected to increase.
• The budget line item with the most significant increase is the Property Package line item for which a 25%
increase (or an increase of $70,545) is being requested for FY25. The reason explained to Ms. Kemalian for
this significant increase is that the Town’s current provider is no longer interested in providing insurance to
municipalities. When Ms. Kemalian reached out to insurance agencies for the FY25 projections, they went
back to provide a figure that the Town could set a budget for. The Town’s insurance agent has committed to
going out to market to pursue other carriers that may be interested in providing insurance for municipalities.
Ms. Foley inquired if all of the insurance policies were estimates at this time. Ms. Kemalian confirmed that all of the
FY25 requests were projections and that the underwriters are unwilling to commit to anything at this early stage.
Mr. Cole inquired if the Town uses one Agent for all of the policies. Ms. Kemalian stated that the Town works with an
Agent and the Agent goes out to market for all of these different policies, so the Town may have different companies
that provide the different Insurance policies. Ms. Kemalian does not deal directly with the insurance company but with
the Agent.
Ms. Thomas inquired if the Town has a track record of these projections for different years and how on target are these
projections? Ms. Kemalian responded that in the approximately 6 years that she has been in her role, these projections
historically are always bottom line higher than actual and this projected budget may be more than needed. Ms. Foley
stated that she thinks the market is up a bit and suggested not reducing too much from this budget request.
#422 Street Lighting – FY25 Budget Request
There is no budget increase requested for FY25 for the Street Lighting budget.
Mr. Mauro inquired why the Street Lighting Budget falls under the Executive Department instead of under the Public
Works Department. Mr. Doody is uncertain why the Street Lighting budget is under his office. However, if there is
decision making to be done regarding the purchase of energy from a third-party provider, some of the accounts fall
under Constellation Energy and that perhaps the former Town Administrator was leading those negotiations for the
purchase of energy.
Mr. Scollins has seen the Street Lighting budget in other communities fall under the Executive Office budget with the
many questions that need to be answered and negotiations to be done by the Executive Office. Over time historically
the most sense has been to have the budget within the Executive Office area.
The discussion with Mr. Doody ended at approximately 9:06 p.m.
Discussion – FY25 Revenue Forecast – Local Receipts – Rentals Receipts - $50,000
Mr. Scollins stated that at their prior Finance Committee meeting he and the Committee discussed Local Receipts with
regard to Rental Receipts. There was a question on the Rentals line within Rental Receipts, which are mobile leases
on town property that is mostly water assets that in turn would be Water Enterprise revenues. Ms. Kemalian determined
that there is one lease, T-Mobile, that is on the monopole at the Ponkapoag Building that is not located on Water
Enterprise property. Mr. Scollins was able to move $50,000 back to Local Receipts, which is the annual lease amount
from T-Mobile. It was decided at the Revenue Forecasting Committee meeting that if there was to be a positive revenue
change the figures would be updated to reflect the appropriate change, therefore, adding in the $50,000 into the Local
Receipts budget, which would increase the total revenue budget by $50,000.
Reconsideration of Vote taken on February 7, 2024 regarding the Setting of the FY25 General Fund Revenues
A motion made by Mr. Mauro that the Finance Committee reconsider the vote taken for the FY25 General Fund
Revenue was seconded by Mr. Cole.
Roll Call Vote:
Ms. Mirliani Aye Mr. Cole Aye
Mr. McKenna Aye Mr. Mauro Aye
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Thomas Aye
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Mr. Scollins thought Mr. Clough attempted to join the meeting but then left the Zoom meeting.
Vote: 6-0-0.
A motion made by Mr. Mauro to set the General Fund Revenues for FY25 of $123,990,083 was seconded by
Ms. Foley.
Roll Call Vote:
Ms. Mirliani Aye Mr. Cole Aye
Mr. McKenna Aye Mr. Mauro Aye
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Thomas Aye
Vote: 6-0-0.
Discussion and Vote – Setting of the FY25 School and Municipal Operating Budget Targets
Mr. Scollins screen shared an exhibit entitled “Guideline Used to Establish Operating Budget Targets FY2025”. He
stated that this was the formula that was being used before he was appointed as the Finance Director.
$123,990,083 Total FY25 General Fund Revenue Estimate
(120,468,290) Reduction to FY25 Revenue to Determine New Funds for School & Municipal Budgets
(There are various items that are backed-off to net down to new funding, excluding any
State Aid changes and dedicated Ambulance Receipts. See meeting docs. ).
$3,521,793 New Incremental Funding Amount left for the FY25 Budget.
$3,679,560 (This figure includes the State Aid Amounts that will be placed back in to figure targets.)
66.77% FY24 School Share of Combined School/Municipal Budgets.
33.23% FY24 Municipal Share of Combined School/Municipal Budgets.
$2,351,483 FY25 School 66.77% share of $3,521,793 – Share of New Revenue excluding State Aid Change.
71,387 FY25 State Aid School Increase
53,490,543 School – FY24 Budget
$55,913,412 FY25 School Budget Target – 66.73% Share
$58,243,919 School Budget Request. Reduction Needed: ($2,330,507)
$1,170,311 FY25 Municipal 33.23% share of $3,521,793 – Share of New Revenue excluding State Aid Change.
86,380 FY25 State Aid General Government Increase.
0 FY25 Dedicated Transfer: Dedicated Funding for Ambulance Capital. Not added back in.
26,621,741 Municipal – FY24 Budget
$27,878,432 FY25 Municipal Budget Target – 33.27% Share
$29,006,512 Municipal Budget Request. Reduction Needed: ($1,128,080)
Mr. Scollins and the Town Administrator reviewed the calculations with the Superintendent and Assistant
Superintendent of Finance and Operations for the Schools and they were accepting of the calculations. The four
officials agreed with those budget reduction numbers.
A motion made by Mr. Mauro that the Finance Committee accept the budget targets for FY25 of $55,913,412 for
the Schools and $27,878,432 for Municipal Departments was seconded by Ms. Foley.
Mr. Cole inquired if there was a “disconnect” between the budgets submitted by the departments and the budgets being
recommended in Mr. Scollins exhibit. Mr. Scollins stated that, yes, unfortunately requests typically come in much higher
than the funds that are available. The School FY25 requests came in with an 8.9% increase to their budget and the
Municipal Departments FY25 requests came in with a 9% increase to their budgets. The budgets being recommended
only allow for approximately one-half of that. The good news is that the increases are incremental. Also one of the
primary reasons for this situation is the Governor’s proposed budget was a very low increase of 1.4% as compared to
significant increases for the past two years. The 1.4% increase was affected by state flattening of revenues, the other
directed uses of the Millionaire’s Tax with not all of it flowing towards Local Aid.
Mr. McKenna inquired about the increases for FY25. Fixed costs are up 4.4% for FY25, lower than both the Municipal
and School increases. The only fixed cost that is still in play is the Blue Hills Regional Assessment. The FY24 Blue
Hills Assessment is $1,770,018. Without the estimate from Blue Hills Regional, Mr. Scollins has assumed a 10%
increase for a total FY25 budget request of $1,947,020. The assessment can vary based on student enrollments and
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state aid that they receive. Mr. Scollins was expecting updated numbers after Blue Hills’ budget meeting the prior night
but the storm forecast for that day may have impacted that meeting. Similar to the Finance Committee’s discussion
about the increase in revenue for rental receipts in the local aid estimates, Mr. Scollins suggested if there is a lower
number for the Blue Hills assessment that impact will play out and result in a positive effect to the budget target numbers
and if it were to be higher than a 10% increase it would have a negative effect to the target numbers.
Roll call Vote:
Ms. Mirliani Aye Mr. Cole Aye
Mr. McKenna Aye Mr. Mauro Aye
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Thomas Aye
Vote: 6-0-0. The motion to set the budget targets for FY25 of $55,913,412 for the Schools and $27,878,432 for
Municipal Departments passed.
Annual Town Meeting Warrant 2024 – Mr. Scollins read through the Article #s and their descriptions (Articles 1-37).
Article 25- Amend By-Law Article VII Part B - Finance Committee – Ms. Thomas stated that the Finance Committee
had reviewed language for this By-Law change and that Town Counsel had reviewed the Finance Committee’s red-
lined changes as follows: to strike the phrase “following an appropriation” replace it with “having a financial impact but
not limited to an appropriation” and in a later section added the phrase “and those having a financial impact” after the
word “appropriations”. Ms. Thomas commented that there are some inconsistences with other sections of the Town’s
By-Laws, specifically regarding the warrant and the articles in the warrant and whether the Finance Committee would
only act on an article if there is an appropriation or if there is a broader scope of warrant review authorized. Ms. Thomas
used as an example if the Finance Committee were considering a District Improvement Financing (DIF), why wouldn’t
the Town Meeting want the Finance Committee to address an appropriation number related to the DIF (an important
financial decision that the Town would be making and would be important for the Finance Committee to discuss the
vote and provide a discussion).
Town Counsel did not eliminate the last section in this article, which was a transition component from when the Finance
Committee went from 12 to 9 members. If the Government Modernization By-Law goes through, this could be
addressed as part of that review.
Ms. Thomas agrees that Town Counsel’s changes are consistent with what the Finance Committee previously voted
and wanted to check with the Committee to see if they agree with these changes and that no vote would be necessary.
Mr. Mauro did not have any objection to the language in Article 25. If in the by-laws there are other areas where it
states the Finance Committee reviews the entire warrant, then would that be “severed” or “not severed” by saying the
language in the proposed amendment article. It seems, in his opinion, that a broader mandate than only anything with
a clear financial impact would be better for the Finance Committee, as there can be financial externalities to articles
that do not have obvious financial impacts expressed in articles. Mr. Mauro would want to make sure the Finance
Committee can act on something in the warrant and have a financial say on it.
Ms. Scollins reminded the Committee that Article 25 is just the article and the motion for the article can be broader or
more restrictive than the language presented in the Article. When drafting the motion, other ideas could be incorporated
that the Finance Committee supports.
Article 30 – By-Law Government Modernization Study Committee
Ms. Thomas read for the Committee the distribution of members that they had recommended to comprise the originally
proposed Government Modernization Study Committee, they were as follows:
• A member of the Select Board.
• A member of the School Committee.
• A member of the Finance Committee.
• A member of the Master Plan Implementation Committee.
• Superintendent of Schools or designee.
• Director of Finance.
• Town Administrator.
• 6 members at large.
Ms. Thomas screen shared a modified version of the Finance Committee’s recommendation presented by Town
Counsel that would be called the By-law Modernization Study Committee. Ms. Thomas met with the Town
Administrator, Charlie Doody, and his Executive Assistant, Jen Kemalian. Ms. Thomas shared the Town Counsel’s
point of view: “the by-laws are foundational and the first step when looking at local government and how it can be
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changed or improved and recognize that this alone is a time-consuming endeavor and to include governance may be too much work for a committee”. A consultant would be needed and based on Town Counsel’s experience in other communities it may take 3-5 years with three phases: 1) a review of the By-Laws, 2) a review of the Zoning By-Laws and 3) review of general governance structure. Town Counsel also recommended that the Schools not be part of the process at this point given that they are governed under a separate state set of statutes. The Finance Director suggested to Ms. Thomas that you can always call people into the Committee to consult or bring them into the process at critical junctures without having them on the Modernization Committee. If there was a particular issue pertaining to the Schools, they would be invited to the table to discuss a particular issue. Town Counsel also recommending reducing the size of the proposed committee from 13 to 9 members to make it more manageable, to include a member of Information Technology and to have 3 citizens-at- large instead of 6 such members. Ms. Mirliani respectfully disagreed with removing the limitations of governance. Having read the by-laws, it was hard for her to envision having them be separated and hard to not have it be a cohesive thought process and recommendations on by-law changes, if you are not actually considering the entire governance of a new structure, could be duplicative later. If this goal in year one, year two is zoning, and then governance, it would seem that governance is going to be a review of the by-law changes that were proposed in year one, whereas if you are globally thinking, then perhaps the Committee starts with the by-law as the first step by thinking long-term globally as to the long-term structure that is the most efficient and effective for a community of Canton’s size Mr. Mauro referred to the reduction of the scope as somewhat limiting and there would be three independent committee doing this work over a three-year period, which could cause coordination problems between the three separate studies and committees. He felt it would be better to form the committee that the Finance Committee had already discussed instead of a piecemeal series of committees. The Government Modernization Study Committee that they had proposed originally could have a longer life to it than one specific study. Further, he said, such a division of goals could be prohibitive to procuring a consultant if you were to have three separate studies, where a consultant might like to structure it a different way. Or perhaps there could be a Request for Proposals to do all three phases. There are different areas of the By-Laws where numerous people or departments would need to be consulted, such as the Town Clerk, Planning, Public Works, and other stakeholders, including public engagement. In Mr. Mauro’s opinion, a reduction in scope weakens the intent of what the Finance Committee had in mind from the beginning and may require more review to see if this is the direction the Finance Committee wants to go in to make this effort successful. Ms. Mirliani inquired if the language in the Warrant is the final language, what option would the Finance Committee have if they were to return to their original proposal and what options does the Finance Committee have if they would like to propose their initial recommendation? Mr. Scollins stated that the warrant article frames what will be presented and voted at Town Meeting, but since this is the Finance Committee’s article, the Finance Committee will be drafting the motion. If they draft a motion that is more in line with their original idea, it would still fit under the “umbrella” of a Modernization Study Committee. If the Committee goes with their original suggestion, it would start with the By-Laws and then proceeds into Modernization such as governance and zoning then it modifies it for coming back for an additional appropriation as the scope expands. He is hoping there will be flexibility allowed with the motion that the Finance Committee drafts. Ms. Mirliani further asked if it was typical for the Finance Committee to propose a motion and then for Town Counsel to do a fairy significant modification without a discussion with the full Finance Committee or provide time for the Committee to consider the revisions and, if so, Ms. Mirliani is concerned with that. Ms. Thomas realizes that Town Counsel has experience with reviewing proposed articles but Ms. Thomas stated that she also was a bit surprised. It was her expectation that when these proposed articles go to Town Counsel for review that the intent is for them to be legally structured properly for Town Meeting and the changes that occurred here was more a reflection of his experience doing this kind of work in other towns versus that the Finance Committee proposed something that wasn’t legal or had structural flaws. Mr. Scollins was surprised. When the Finance Committee was discussing this idea in the context of Special Town Meeting, he was personally very supportive of a Modernization Study Committee but was not thinking about it in the limited way that is being proposed by Town Counsel. He would have preferred that the Finance Committee was engaged before the article was amended. He is hoping that the Finance Committee will be able to draft a motion that still fits within this article that is ultimately supportive of what the Finance Committee originally proposed. Mr. Scollins suggested that a conversation with the Town Administrator who works with the Select Board and Town Counsel would be appropriate as a starting point. Ms. Thomas suggested that the members look at the Town of Sharon’s recent 2022 Governance Study Committee with a mission statement in terms of reviewing Town’s by-laws and recommending changes to governance to reflect best practices. She also suggested looking at the Collins Center, which is a group that does this kind of work. A part of their practice is based at UMass Boston and they provide these kinds of services and the Finance Committee might be able to obtain some consulting services on how to approach this study. FINCOM 20240214 Minutes EM RS Final.docx Page 7 of 9 2/18/24
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Ms. Thomas spoke in support of a stronger representation of citizens on the committee.
Mr. Mauro spoke in support of bringing the number of members back to nine and to select more committee members
to represent a cross-section of the community by broadening its scope of members (in addition to the scope of the
study) and to give the process a stronger legitimacy.
Ms. Thomas stated the following highlights of the discussion:
• Broaden the scope back to the General By-Laws and Governance and open to the integration of those. as to
separate them is not the way the Finance Committee wants to proceed.
• Revisit the constitution of the Modernization Committee beyond what is listed in the Article.
• Follow-up with Town Administrator as to why there was no consultation with the Finance Committee and to
confirm they have a process going forward, to have it reviewed by Town Counsel and to make sure that it is
structured properly.
• Ms. Thomas would follow up with the Collins Center to obtain information from them to present at an upcoming
Finance Committee meeting: Charter Amendments and Revisions, Study Committees facilitation, and
Government Study Committee facilitation.
• Confirm if $20,000 is an appropriate cost for the study.
Update - Blue Hills Regional Assessment
Mr. Scollins thanked Ms. Mirliani (the Finance Committee liaison to the Blue Hills Regional Technical School) for
forwarding an email she received from Blue Hills Regional earlier in the day regarding the preliminary estimate for the
Town’s assessment. Although it is a draft figure, the good news is the assessment is about a $180,000 reduction to
what he had estimated for the FY25 assessment. The student enrollment from Canton has decreased by 7 students.
Mr. Scollins will confirm this the following day. If this number is lower, he asked that the Chair place the revenue
estimate / FY25 targets for schools and municipal department operating budgets back on the agenda for the next
meeting. Since this is a fixed cost, it would have a direct effect on the funds available for the FY25 budgets.
Meeting Minutes: A motion made by Mr. McKenna to approve the minutes as written for January 31, 2024, was
seconded by Mr. Mauro.
Roll Call Vote:
Ms. Mirliani Aye Mr. Cole Aye
Mr. McKenna Aye Mr. Mauro Aye
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Thomas Aye
Vote: 6-0-0
Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will take place on February 21, 2024, as a virtual meeting via Zoom.
Meeting Adjournment: A motion made by Mr. McKenna to adjourn the meeting at approximately 9:10 p.m.
was seconded by Mr. Mauro.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Cole Aye Ms. Thomas Aye
Ms. Foley Aye Ms. Mirliani Aye
Mr. Mauro Aye Mr. McKenna Aye
Vote: 6-0-0.
Minutes reviewed by: Emilio Mauro
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Thomas
Chair, Canton Finance Committee and
Sub-Committee to Review Compensation of Elected Officials
FINCOM 20240214 Minutes EM RS Final.docx Page 8 of 9 2/18/24Source page 9
Finance Committee
Meeting Documents
February 14, 2024
Please note: Some meeting documents may be found on the Town’s website under the Posted Minutes
section (Laser Fiche).
Agenda – February 14, 2024
Budget documents discussed at the meeting may be found on the Town’s Website under the Finance Committee
section. The budget documents are subject to change as the budget process progresses. The documents may also
be found at the below links.
https://town.canton.ma.us/DocumentCenter/View/10987/FY25-Municipal-Budget---Dept-Requests---Jan-2024---Part-
1-of-2
https://town.canton.ma.us/DocumentCenter/View/10988/FY25-Municipal-Budget---Dept-Requests---Jan-2024---Part-
2-of-2
Request: Upgrade Job Description of Executive Assistant to Assistant Town Administrator, dated February 2/14/24,
Increased Cost of $13,038 (2 pages).
FINCOM 20240214 Minutes EM RS Final.docx Page 9 of 9 2/18/24