Salaries Drive 80% of Marshfield's Budget, Says Town Administrator
Town officials faced questions about municipal spending and its impact on taxpayers during a detailed review of Marshfield's budget at the January 13 Select Board meeting.
During the presentation of the state of the town report, Select Board member Eric Kelly raised concerns about the current fiscal year's budget, which shows revenue of $115,404,910 and expenses of $115,406,710.
"Just you're spending every dollar that's coming in," Kelly said during an exchange with Town Administrator Michael Maresco.
Kelly suggested that controlling spending could help ease the burden on taxpayers, particularly as property assessments increase. "Here's what I'm hearing from a few people... especially this year's assessments, people's assessments have gone up," Kelly told the board.
Maresco responded that major budget reductions would be difficult, explaining that "the budget's made up about 80% salary." He challenged the board: "So where would you like the cuts to come? Would you like them to cut in the police, the fire DPW?"
Kelly also questioned rising school department spending despite declining enrollment. "I keep hearing from time to time that they're down eight, 900 students from a certain point years ago, but they keep increasing the budget for whatever reason," he said.
According to Maresco, the school department faces similar constraints. "They're no different than general government side is that 80% of their budget is salary and they've just gone through like we did. They went through collective bargaining," he explained.
The town administrator noted that various costs keep rising, including "the cost to educate the cost for software, bus transportation. Transportation gets so expensive that we were one of the last towns to implement a bus fee."
During the discussion, Kelly suggested exploring whether excess funds could be returned to taxpayers. However, Town Attorney Bob Galvin cautioned that such moves could affect the town's financial standing.
"It has an impact on bond ratings," Galvin said. "If you're giving free cash back to people, it's generally recognized... that if you're spending free cash on recurring expenses, you're creating a potential fiscal problem for the town."