Lakeville Select Board may freeze vacant positions

LAKEVILLE — Select Board members want more information from department heads before deciding whether to approve a hiring freeze as the town faces financial challenges.

A freeze would allow the town to save money in the budget without losing current staff, Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth explained at the Feb. 3 Select Board meeting.

“I’d rather cut vacancies than people,’’ Sukeforth said.

A hiring freeze would serve two purposes, he said, by creating flexibility in the current budget while helping to close the deficit in next year’s budget.

Lakeville is facing budget pressures from increases in fixed insurance and pension costs, rising education expenses and a reduction in federally funded state aid, Sukeforth has stated.

Seven positions are currently vacant. Those jobs include assistant treasurer-collector, assessor; DPW laborer, custodian, fire lieutenant, patrol officer and two part-time emergency services dispatchers.

Sukeforth said department heads have stated that all positions are valuable. “We’re lean in Lakeville,’’ he said.

Some positions have been challenging to fill, Sukeforth said, while others might lend themselves to restructuring.

One possibility he mentioned involved the assessor position, which the town has had difficulty filling. Lakeville might consider sharing the position with another community, Sukeforth said.

Board Chair Maureen Candito said she is open to possible restructuring of positions in order to ensure that town staff members remain employed.

Leaving vacant positions unfilled could add other expenses, such as overtime, Select Board member Paul Hunt noted. 

Candito requested that department heads provide “in their own words, the impact’’ of the loss of specific positions.

She asked for that material to be provided by the next Feb. 17 Select Board meeting.