JUNE 30, 2018 TOWN of WEYMOUTH Robert L. Hedlund
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TOWN REPORT JULY 1, 2017 – JUNE 30, 2018 JULY REPORT TOWN TOWN REPORT JULY 1, 2017 – JUNE 30, 2018 The new Libby Baseball Field, under the lights. (with the Veterans Memorial Wall, Town Hall and Legion Field in the background) Libby Field was rededicated to Dr. J. Herbert and Anna J. Libby TOWN OF WEYMOUTH Robert L. Hedlund MAYOR In Memoriam Mrs. Vera A. Adams December 4, 1940 – July 15, 2018 A lifelong Weymouth resident who graduated from Weymouth High School in 1958. Remembered for her beautiful smile, generosity, and kind demeanor. Sergeant Michael C. Chesna April 15, 1976 – July 15, 2018 A decorated veteran and Weymouth police sergeant who graduated Weymouth High School in 1994. A loyal husband, a devoted father, an American hero and patriot. INDEX MAYOR’S ADDRESS……………………………………………………1 TOWN OFFICALS ELECTED BY BALLOT……………………………7 DEPARTMENT HEADS………………………………………………….8 APPOINTED BOARDS AND COMMITTEES…………………………..9 TOWN COUNCIL………………………………………………………...17 AUDIT & OVERSIGHT………………………………………………….25 SCHOOL DEPARTMENT………..………………………………………27 MUNICIPAL FINANCE………………………………………………….39 ASSET MANAGEMENT…………………………………………………72 PUBLIC WORKS…………………………………………………………74 ADMINISTRATIVE & COMMUNITY SERVICES…………………….90 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY……………………………………….101 LEGAL DEPARTMENT…………………………………………………103 HUMAN RESOURCES…………………………………………………...105 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT………………………………………...108 ELDER SERVICES……………………………………………………….111 YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES…………………………………………120 RECREATION DIVISION………………………….................................123 VETERAN’S SERVICES…………………………………………………126 PUBLIC LIBRARIES……………………………………………………..132 PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT……………………….140 HOUSING AUTHORITY…………………………………………………156 MUNICIPAL LICENSES AND INSPECTIONS…………………………165 BOARD OF LICENSING COMMISSIONERS………………………….168 POLICE DEPARTMENT…………………………………………………170 FIRE DEPARTMENT……………………………………………………..187 HEALTH DEPARTMENT…………………………………………………199 CONTRIBUTORY RETIREMENT……………………………………….228 SOUTHFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY…………………….230 WEYMOUTH HERRING RUN…………………………………………..238 TOWN CLERK………………………………………………………........240 BOARD OF REGISTRARS……………………………………………….242 NORFOLK COUNTY REGISTRY OF DEEDS…………………………..244 ELECTION RESULTS……………………………………………………248 OFFICE OF THE MAYOR Robert L. Hedlund, Mayor Ted Langill, Chief of Staff It is my honor to present the residents of Weymouth this Annual Report for fiscal year 2018, which covers activity from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. In this report, my second full fiscal year as Mayor, you will read that Weymouth continued to experience significant improvements across Town and made important progress in the funding of important core services, including public safety and education. I am grateful to the department heads and staff who have worked extremely hard to turn our vision for progress a reality. I also appreciate the partnership we have with our Committees and Boards, most especially our Town Council. Most of what we accomplish is dependent on available revenue and budgeting. We have continued to make the most of the limited resources we have. One way we do this is by aggressively pursuing state and federal grants. In FY18, we worked with several Town departments to request new state and federal grant funding, and we were successful in securing a total of $1,915,444 in new funding. In addition, four grants we had previously applied for were successfully awarded in FY18. These grants totaled another $15,336,204, with the $12 million state library grant for a new Tufts Library being the most celebrated. “Free Cash” continued to be a valuable non-recurring revenue source. Free cash is a revenue source that results from the calculation of the Town’s remaining, unrestricted funds from its operations of the previous fiscal year. It includes actual receipts in excess of revenue estimates and unspent amounts in departmental budget line items, plus unexpended free cash from the previous year. Free cash is offset by property tax receivables and certain deficits. In November of 2017, The MA Department of Revenue certified $7,437,969 in available free cash. We have continued our responsible policy of using Free Cash for one-time expenses, such as capital expenses. For FY18, we submitted the following Free Cash measures, each of which were approved by the Town Council. $1,070,000 to close the Town’s snow and ice deficit; transferred $2,000,000 into the Town’s stabilization fund; transferred $250,000 into the Town’s OPEB liability fund; $561,963 for repairs to the Fore River Ave. seawall; $755,982 for School IT infrastructure and devices; $354,500 for School educational and instructional material; $322,000 to replace seven aging police cruisers; $350,000 for personal protective equipment for each firefighter; $850,000 for road and sidewalk repairs; $250,000 for Town drainage projects; $225,000 for front-line front end loader with attachments; $250,000 to repair the Clark Nature Center; and $157,130 for improvements at Washington and Broad Streets. 1 The Fiscal Year 2018 operating budget was a responsible budget with modest growth to address primarily personnel obligations and needs. We were able to continue our practice of using recurring, predictable sources of revenue to fund the operating budget. The FY18 general fund operating budget was $162,171,975. This was an increase of $6,665,703 or 4.3% over FY17. While the overall increase was similar to the previous fiscal year the factors involved were different and more challenging. These are some of the factors that made crafting the FY18 budget more challenging: - Several Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) were settled with various town unions, including Library, DPW, SEIU and Traffic Supervisors. All of these CBAs reflected two (2) years’ worth of increases, as they had expired at the end of FY16 (June 30, 2016). The budget also included a 1.5% COLA increase for non-union employees. - While health care costs were less than original estimates from GIC, the increase was still significantly more than we saw in FY17. In total, our employee health insurance budget increased by $435,177 or 2.0% in FY18. - The increase to our pension appropriation doubled from FY17 to FY18, due in large part to our Retirement Board reporting that investment income was $14.8 million less than their original forecast for the period between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2015. The budget increase for FY18 was $647,752 or 6.5%. - State Assessments increased by over $1.5 million in FY18, accounting for almost a quarter of the total increase in expenses for FY18. This increase was almost entirely attributed to the increase in charter school sending tuition. This was exacerbated by the state underfunding the charter school reimbursements to cities and towns. To help address the fiscal realities and still provide improved services to the taxpayers of Weymouth, we analyzed every line-item of the budget looking for ways to save money and better utilize the limited resources we have. In doing so, we identified over $1 million in savings and adjustments to help balance the budget. These savings helped us address some key needs, including: funding for two additional police officers and one firefighter; funding for two additional DPW workers dedicated to field and park maintenance, to help ensure our $10.4 million investment in park and field improvement is properly maintained; increased funding for Weymouth Public Schools, beyond the School Committee’s submitted level services budget, that addressed many items on the school’s FY18 needs list. In April of 2018, I filed the FY19 operating budget, which totaled $168,648,297, an increase of $6,476,322 or 4.0% over Fiscal Year 2018. It was unanimously adopted by the Town Council. The FY19 budget is much like the first two budgets I filed as Mayor, a responsible budget that funded modest growth in core areas of services. Thanks to a continued focus on economic growth to build our tax base and local revenues, the FY19 budget was supported by strong tax levy and local receipts growth. 2 The tax levy and local receipts growth made up all of the Town’s projected revenue growth for FY19. Local Aid, the Town’s second largest revenue source behind the tax levy, remained flat, which limited the opportunity to address additional needs in the budget. There were some significant expense obligations that impacted the FY19 budget, including: - Certain Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) were settled with various Town unions, including Patrolmen, Police Superior Officers, Police Telecommunicators, and Firefighters. Since these CBA’s expired at the end of FY16, the FY19 budget included three years’ worth of salary increases. The FY19 budget also included a 2.0% cost of living increase for non-union employees (in addition to scheduled step increases). - The increase to our retirement/pension appropriation for FY19, as voted and requested by the Weymouth Retirement Board, was $424,418 or 4.0%. - Based on the FY19 state budget proposed by the House of Representatives and State Senate, budgeted state assessments to Weymouth for FY19 will increase by over $600,000, or 12%. - Thanks to our efforts to minimize health insurance costs by encouraging employees to switch to comparable but less expensive health plans and flat GIC rates, the Town’s health insurance costs are projected to decrease by 2.4% in FY19. The total proposed FY19 School Department appropriation is $70,815,271, which is an increase of 3.9% or $2.65 million over the FY18 operating budget level. For the third consecutive year, the increase is above the