SAUGUS Your Local News & Sports Online. Subscribe & Scan Here! CAT D Vol. 26, No.9 -FREE- www.advocatenews.net CAT Published Every Friday WHAT IT COSTS TO RUN SAUGUS T TE 781-233-4446 Friday, March 1, 2024 The budget season is offi cially underway Town Manager Crabtree briefs selectmen on his preliminary spending plan for the 2025 Fiscal year By Mark E. Vogler own Manager Scott C. Crabtree has recommended $33.1 million for the School Department for the 2025 Fiscal Year that begins July 1 – an increase of $1.5 million over the Fiscal Year 2024 budget approved last spring by the Annual Town Meeting. But that’s still $1.2 million less than the proposed Saugus Public Schools budget recommended by Superintendent Michael Hashem and approved by the School Committee. “I’m sure I’m going to get tons of criticism for what I gave the schools,” Crabtree told selectmen Tuesday (Feb. 27) night during his annual budget briefing in the fi rst fl oor conference room at Saugus Town Hall. The preliminary spending plan unveiled by the town manager includes municipal general fund operating budgets totaling $78.3 million to go with proposed school spending, which adds up to an estimated $111.4 million in total general fund operating budgets. “We try to be conservative… Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree confers with Selectman Anthony Cogliano before Tuesday (Feb. 27) night’s briefi ng on the Fiscal Year 2025 operating budget recommended by the town manager. Selectmen voted to recommend the spending plan, which now goes through a series of hearings by the Finance Committee. Please see inside for this week’s “The Advocate Asks” – selectmen’s take on the town manager’s budget. (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) ~ Home of the Week ~ Step into this charming expanded Cape Colonial, boasting a beautiful stained glass window, cherry cabinets, and a breakfast bar in the kitchen. The first floor features a spacious family room, formal dining room, living room with a gas fireplace, and a full bath. Upstairs, find four bedrooms, a bonus room, and a luxurious bath with double sinks and a Jacuzzi tub. Outside, an oversized trek deck awaits for entertaining, with ample parking including a two-car garage. Recent updates include a new roof and heating system in 2020. 100 SPRINGDALE AVE, SAUGUS Carpenito Real Estate is now Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth Real Estate OFFERED AT $679,900 (781) 233-7300 335 Central St. Saugus Commonmoves.com ©2024 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Equal Housing Opportunity. not try to overspend. We spend within our means. That’s something the schools need to do,” Crabtree told selectmen. The total estimated Expenditure Budget is nearly $118 million for the General Fund and $15 million for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds, for a total Fiscal Year 2025 estimated expenditure amount of nearly $133 million. Selectmen voted unanimously to recommend the town manager’s operating budget, forwarding it to the Finance Committee, which will begin hearings on each department budget before making its recommendations to the Annual Town Meeting, which is set to convene on May 6. Crabtree’s $1.5 million hike in the School Department budget is triple the increase he recommended for school spending last year. He also noted in his four-page budget message to selectmen that the increase was actually understated. “The increase does not include the indirect costs paid by the Town on behalf of the School Department and included as part of the total Net School Spending (NSS) calculation required by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE),” the town manager said in his budget message. Crabtree identified several challenges in preparing the estimates of expenditures in his recommended FY 2025 budget: • Health Insurance – the rates have not been fi nalized by the provider. The town can expect that the rate will be set within the next few months. Crabtree said his offi ce has made a conservative estimate based on the current enrollment of employees. That estimate will have to be revisited later in the budget BUDGET SEASON| SEE PAGE 2 Mid-grade Regular $3.88 95 64 93 Over 45 Years of Excellence! Full Service $3.65 Order online at angelosoil.com
2 Publizr Home