Natick officially kicked off its Spring Annual Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting #1 on April 23 at Natick High School, though quickly adjourned that meeting in deference to the start of Passover the day before, and the action really started on April 25. Things got off to a fast start, with Town Meeting working through more than a dozen articles, including a handful included in an all-in-one consent agenda.
We’ve recapped the uh, action, below, but if you want to review the meeting in its entirety, Natick Pegasus has the recording.
New Town Meeting members get sworn in (Natick Pegasus screenshot)
Getting started
The first order of business on Thursday, after swearing in new Town Meeting members and going over ground rules, was adjourning the Special Town Meeting #1 until the following Tuesday. Then a bit of article order shuffling to accommodate various participants’ schedules.
Jennifer Mullin was also introduced early on as the town’s new director of facilities and maintenance under Bill Spratt’s DPW & Facilities leadership.
Moving into the articles, the Finance Committee (which vets Town Meeting articles and makes recommendations), recommended no action on Article 2 which entailed discussing “the reports of town officers, boards, and committees.” Town Meeting member Henry Haugland, however, proposed a motion to give an update on efforts to preserve the Sawin House, Natick oldest (he did so last fall at Town Meeting). But because the Select Board advisory committee focused on the house hasn’t issued a report to the Board, it was deemed that the committee is technically dormant and was not allowed to present an update at the meeting.
Omnibus budget: The big one
Article 3, regarding the town’s proposed $191M omnibus budget, is the big one. It’s all about appropriating funds largely raised from property taxes to run the town in fiscal year 2025, which begins in July. Town Meeting was advised by Moderator Frank Foss up front that the budget was presented differently this year, as one big motion consolidating all operating budgets other than those from two enterprise funds for efficiency’s sake (a similar approach has been taken for capital budget motions). An all-star cast led by Town Administrator Jamie Errickson and Interim Schools Superintendent Bella Wong presented on the motion before Town Meeting members would be given a chance to dig in with questions.
Errickson defined FY25 as “definitely a stable year but also a tight year,” with the reality of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that emerged to support communities during the pandemic going away in FY26. In other words, the town needs to figure out how to keep paying for some things it started to pay for with ARPA funds. The good news is that local receipts from things like hotel taxes and excise taxes have been rebounding since their COVID-period declines; unfortunately, the increase in state aid so far has been disappointing. Inflation rates and healthcare costs aren’t helping matters, though the silver lining on the town’s higher healthcare expenses is that it is the result of Natick filling positions it had previously had trouble hiring for (healthcare rates actually didn’t rise as much as feared).
Natick remains a financially strong, AAA-rated community, Errickson assured.
On the school side, Wong said the proposed $89.2M FY25 budget (up 7.1% from the previous fiscal year) accounts for no new initiatives, but that all existing programs will remain. Job cuts have been made in light of Johnson Elementary School closing at the end of this academic year (not all cuts, which add up to nearly $800K in savings, came from Johnson staff though).
Like the town, the schools have had to think creatively to support programs and positions that arose during the pandemic and that have been funded by one-time monies. Enrollment is projected to stay steady in years to come, except at the high school, where increases will be seen, Wong said.
Keefe Tech Superintendent Jon Evans also spoke, and noted that the regional technical high school has seen an increase in students from Natick as more families consider this options for education. Evans emphasized that those attending don’t close the door to college—60% of the class of 2023 went on to college, he said. Enrollment for FY25 is 868, with 61 from Natick (up from 46 in FY24). Keefe Tech requested $1.4M for assessments from Natick.
Deputy Town Administrator & Director of Finance John Townsend wrapped up the presentations, returning to overall town finances previewed by Errickson. Like Errickson, Townsend described the budget as “tight.” During his talk, he highlighted new initiatives that will affect town spending, including hiring an assistant fire chief and part-time mental health social worker, and developing a Department of Public Works co-op with Keefe Tech.
Natick boasted an $11,703 surplus under the budget plan.
Town Meeting members had few questions for the presenters, though did ask about the cost per student ($18,070 last year) and a longstanding structural deficit. Townsend said “I probably could go on for quite a while on the structural deficit…” and acknowledged Natick is using more free cash to fill operating expense gaps than it should (the Massachusetts Department of Revenue frowns upon municipalities overdoing this).
Omnibus budget Motion A passed easily, 104-7, as did Motion B on the enterprise fund budgets, 109-2. (Note that Natick could have a maximum of 180 Town Meeting members, though some spots are vacant in Precinct 1… clearly, as the voting results show, Town Meeting drew far less than a full house of members).
Wrapping up Week #1
Town Meeting zipped through a handful of other articles before calling it a night on April 25. Motions were approved for rescinding debt and covering unpaid bills.
Article 13 covered an update to the Personnel Board Classification and Pay Plan for general government non-union employees. The town conducted a study to find out how Natick fared in what it pays vs. other communities, and overall, Natick is offering competitive compensation, said Steve Levinsky of the Personnel Board. However, employees on the high end of the scale already have nowhere higher to go, so it was proposed that there be a roughly 10% increase of the maximum compensation for each pay grade (Grade 6 maxes out to $200,000 per year now). Town Meeting approved the motion 96-7-1.
Article 8 addressed monies needed to cover collective bargaining agreements, with 5 of the town’s 10 collective bargaining agreements expiring this year. Town Meeting approved the Motion A by a 97-1 count.
The night’s activity ended with approval of a motion under Article 10 to shift free cash to the town’s stabilization fund and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) needs.
More: Natick ready to double down on Town Meeting
If you appreciate us saving you from watching all of Town Meeting yourself, please consider supporting our work
