NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance Committee in the last two weeks reviewed Public Safety, auditor, Zoning Board of Appeals, City Council, election and registration, Office of Community Development, city solicitor, License Commission, information technology, Planning Board, and vital statistics.

 

The committee consists of Chair Lisa Blackmer and Councilors Andrew Fitch and Lillian Zavatsky. 

 

The City Council budget includes a 3 percent cost of living increase, in line with the across the board COLA for all departments.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said she included a codification administration line of $6,000 to cover the extra meeting the city clerk is doing as the council reviews the city's codes.

 

The elections budget is up about $10,500, largely for worker salaries to accommodate two state elections this year, the primary and the general. City Clerk Tina Leonesio said the extra poll workers are needed because state elections tend to draw a higher number of voters. The cost of the ballots, however, are covered by the state.

 

Leonesio explained how her office was able to save money on the city census and mailings by printing and folding the documents in house, as well as purchasing the supplies and training to maintain the vital statistics rather than sending them out.  

 

"The cost is in the supplies, because we have to put so many things in the census now, it would be a very large expense to have it done by a vendor outside," she said, estimating it would cost three times as much "because we have to pay for every piece of paper they have to print and fold, plus the mailing."