Marshfield officials are taking extra time to finalize the town’s budget while also weighing whether long-standing rules for capital spending still fit current financial realities, as pressure mounts from snow removal costs and departmental funding needs.
During the Jan. 29 Select Board meeting, Interim Town Administrator Peter Morin said the budget process remains ongoing as staff work to reclassify spending and incorporate finalized state aid and assessment figures received earlier in the week.
Morin said the town is prioritizing accuracy over speed.
“We’ve just received official state aid and state assessments,” Morin said. “The official totals came in yesterday and so having accurate revenue and assessment numbers rather than going with estimates will lend to the accuracy and the improvement of the budget that is presented at town meeting.”
He acknowledged frustration over the delay but said it would result in a clearer financial picture.
“It’s been my experience that it’s better to be right than be fast,” Morin said.
Budget discussions expanded into a broader debate over capital spending after Capital Budget Committee Chair Jack Griffin outlined concerns with fiscal 2027 capital requests totaling about $15.7 million.
Under town bylaws, a capital item must cost at least $25,000 and have a useful life of five years or more. Griffin said some submissions rely on grouping smaller purchases together to meet that threshold, even when the individual items may not qualify.
“If aggregation is allowed to convert operating and maintenance purchases into capital budget requests, the capital threshold becomes a purchase strategy rather than an asset based standard,” Griffin said.
Griffin emphasized that the issue was not limited to one department and should be considered a townwide policy question rather than a single budget dispute.
Town Accountant Meg LaMay agreed, noting that financial strain may be driving departments to seek capital funding for expenses that traditionally belong in operating budgets.
“I think they’re probably trying to get funds from capital because their budget has been cut,” LaMay said. “That’s an operating expense.”
Morin said the discussion reflects a choice the town must make between sticking with its existing bylaw or adopting a broader definition used by the state Division of Local Services, which allows certain aggregated purchases to be treated as capital.
“What you’ve got to decide is do you want to amend and adopt this definition that’s broader for certain circumstances or you want to go to a budgeting process that incrementally purchases things rather than does it in bulk,” Morin said.
Select Board members said no decision would be made that night but expressed interest in clarifying the rules to reduce uncertainty.
“Get rid of the gray,” said board clerk Patricia Simpson. “Make it as clear cut as possible.”
The board also authorized deficit spending for snow and ice removal, one of the few categories permitted under state law, after earlier overruns were compounded by additional storms.
“You were a little bit over going into this storm and so you’re way over now,” Morin said.
As the meeting concluded, Chair Eric Kelley said the board may also pursue additional oversight measures to improve accountability during tight budget cycles.
“This way this provides, in my opinion, good governance on our part to make sure that everybody’s adhering to the budget as best they can,” Kelley said.
Kelley said staff would be asked to draft potential policy language for future consideration as officials prepare for Town Meeting.
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