DALTON, Mass. — The town's financial constraints persist, but it appears the town will manage to get through fiscal year 2027 without any staffing cuts.

 

The Select Board has tentatively approved an operating budget of $11,786,298, a 8.2 percent or $892,704 increase from fiscal year 2026. 

 

The proposed budget is still $2,288 over the levy limit, however, several figures are not set, including the final school assessment that is due mid-March and the sewer rates. 

 

If the amounts come back as anticipated, the town will be within its levy limit and avoid layoffs. The town made reductions to all departments, but not all were accepted, Town Manager Eric Anderson said. 

 

All departments were requested to submit initial budgets; however, when those came back the town was overspent. 

 

So, Anderson requested the departments submit budgets with an additional 5 percent cut and explain the impact these cuts would have. 

 

"You don't want to cut something that's going to cost you more in the long run," he said. 

 

Budget reductions were determined by assessing the potential impact on each department. Anderson cautions against across-the-board cuts, noting that not all departments are equally able to absorb reductions.

 

The communications budget was reduced by $141,663 because it was covered by the state E911 grant.

 

The town has a long record of receiving that grant, so the budget assumes it will receive it again. The budgeted amount went to free cash in previous years, Anderson said. 

 

The Highway Department budget made cuts by not hiring for an open position, eliminating a summer help position, and an emergency staff, he said. 

 

"Being a little conservative, so I didn't take the entirety of the grant, but I took most of the grant and applied it to that," Anderson said. 

 

The town is now budgeting much more closely to the revenues it anticipates receiving, using the best available information. However, it remains within the parameters recommended by the state Department of Revenue, Anderson said. 

 

Further reductions will impact town services and will only be implemented if necessary. 

 

Like years past, the town plans to use $200,000 of free cash to "shore up" the current budget. 

 

This budget is set up to plan on not borrowing any additional money this year. Anderson recommended the financial strategy of prioritizing paying down existing debt. 

 

"We're not going to take on new debt because we're not going to kind of mortgage the future. We're going to try to pay for what we can with what we've got," he said. 

 

One option is the town can use free cash to pay down the debt and increase the stabilization accounts, he said. 

 

"Depending on what we end up with free cash this year, it is possible we could wipe out and just pay off all our existing [short term] debt if we want to go that route,"  Anderson said. 

 

The town has about $730,116 in short-term debt, he said. 

 

Anderson's goal is to anticipate the town's future needs and proactively plan for them through responsible fiscal management.

 

In addition to the town's general, capital, and sewer stabilization accounts, Anderson recommended implementing a road improvement stabilization fund and a capital equipment stabilization fund.

 

The town should be looking at its expenses over a 10 to 15-year horizon by predicting how much the town will need to spend for emergencies and maintenance and fund that on an annual basis, Anderson explained in a follow-up. 

 

The purpose of a stabilization account is to build funding for specific things so the town does not have big spikes year to year when the town needs to spend for emergencies and maintenance, he said. 

 

The town's general stabilization fund — its emergency operating reserve — is currently funded to about half the level recommended by Governmental Accounting Standards. However, the town has a healthy amount of free cash that can be accessed in emergencies.

 

Anderson recommends that the Select Board and Finance Committee come up with policies to determine how each stabilization account is funded and the amount to fund them. The Capital Planning Committees plan will inform these policies, Anderson said. 

 

The town would initially fund these accounts using stabilization and the town will navigate other ways to fund it in the future. For example, sewer stabilization can be funded through sewer user fees.