Town Meeting postponed while budget shortfall is addressed

MIDDLEBORO -- Town Meeting will be postponed, likely to May 18, to provide more time to develop a new budget, Interim Town Manager Joseph Perkins told select board members at their March 23 meeting.

Every department will face cuts as Middleboro faces a potential budget shortfall of $3.3 million, Perkins said. The process of rebuilding a balanced budget will take time and require cooperation among town boards, he said. This cannot be done by the original Town Meeting date of April 27, board members agreed.

Perkins previously reviewed the budget developed by former town manager Jay McGrail and described it as “out of balance significantly.’’ McGrail left Middleboro earlier this month to become town administrator in Harwich.

As a first step in the budget examination, Perkins placed a freeze on new hires, restricted overtime and required approval for purchases over $1,000.

He also asked department heads to examine how potential cuts of five, 10 and 20 percent would impact their operation and affect the town.

Decisions must be made by departments and boards working together, Perkins said, and not done “hastily’’ or “in a silo.’’

He acknowledged that “the anxiety level is out of control’’ among employees suddenly uncertain about their futures and urged people against speculating about possible outcomes. “I don’t want people to panic,’’ he said.

In response to a resident’s concerns about how McGrail could leave the town with an unbalanced budget, Select Board Chair Mark Germain said that McGrail defended his numbers during recent conversations.

Perkins’ numbers are “ultra-conservative’’ and based on “worst-case scenarios,’’ Germain said.

Perkins noted that budget figures reflect “proposed numbers. These numbers will fluctuate.’’

One example Perkins cited was McGrail’s proposed local receipt figure of $13 million, a number the interim town manager described as “aggressive.’’ Perkins estimated the number to be closer to $11.5 million.

Germain said that $12.5 million was a more realistic figure.

Everyone agreed that developing a new budget would require a unified effort. “It will take all of us working shoulder to shoulder to get over this,’’ Select Board member William Pike said.

The Select Board supported a formal request from Finance Committee members to be included in all further budget planning.

“We need to come together as a town and determine priorities,’’ Perkins said, in a spirit of collaboration and careful consideration. “We owe it to town employees and to the people of Middleboro.’’