Special Town Meeting

A session to “clean up” the budget is set for Dec. 6

  Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree says a Special Town Meeting he requested for next month will enable Saugus town government “to complete our budget process.”

  The most important of the four articles on the warrant – Article 2 – would allow the town to rescind the vote under Article 2 of the 2021 Annual Town Meeting to transfer an amount not to exceed $1.4 million from the Stabilization Fund as a funding source for town charges for the 2022 Fiscal Year that began July 1. The money would be drawn from Free Cash to restore the Stabilization Fund.

  The Special Town Meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and will be conducted via Zoom teleconferencing at the request of Town Moderator Steve Doherty.

  “We used the stabilization money to balance the budget,” Crabtree said at Tuesday’s (Nov. 16) Board of Selectmen’s meeting. “This will help us maintain our bond rating,” he added.

  The town was able to use the Stabilization Fund on a short-term basis to pass a budget during an uncertain fiscal climate affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The year before [2020], we were looking at $2.4 million to balance the budget,” he said.

  The town manager noted that other communities were faced with layoffs, cuts in services and increased fees.Meanwhile, Saugus has been in “a good financial situation” despite the uncertain times affected by COVID-19. “We’re still balancing the budget with free cash, which is not a great practice,” Crabtree said. But the town manager said he hopes to avoid that practice in future years as town revenues increase.

  Another article would authorize the payment of unpaid bills from previous years. There are also articles to appropriate matching funds on a grant and to make a supplementary appropriation to be used on a Saugus Cable TV audit.

  The Special Town Meeting will not be held at Town Hall because of health concerns over COVID-19. “Because I do not foresee any way to safely assemble our 50 member Town Meeting, and allow for public attendance at the same time while complying with state directives on public assemblies during the current health emergency, I am hereby, requesting permission from the Saugus Board of Selectmen to hold the 2021 Special Town Meeting, as last year, in an on-line format, using the Zoom meeting platform, on the evening of Monday, Dec. 6,” the town moderator wrote in a letter to selectmen.