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Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 Crabtree says town has $4.2M in Certifi ed Free Cash Special To Th e Advocate T he state Department of Revenue (DOR) recently certifi ed free cash of more than $4.2 million, Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree announced recently. “It has been a long-standing fi - nancial priority and goal of this administration to have adequate annual free cash reserves,” Crabtree said in a press release issued Gina S Soldano REALTOR® ABR®, AHWD, e-PRO®, GREEN, MRP®, PSA®, SFR®, SRES®, SRS® Broker/Associate Millennium Real Estate 291 Ferry Street, Everett, MA 02149 (857) 272-4270 Gina.Soldano@era.com gsoldanorealtor.com Law Offices of Terrence W. Kennedy 512 Broadway, Everett • Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice Tel: (617) 387-9809 Cell: (617) 308-8178 twkennedylaw@gmail.com by his offi ce. “Having a healthy annual surplus (free cash) is one of the foundations for maintaining the Town’s S&P AA+/Stable bond rating, the taxpayers continuing to save millions of dollars in borrowing on capital improvement projects such as the savings in bonds borrowing for the grades 6-12, new Massachusetts School Building Authority Middle-High School and District-Wide Master Plan Solution,” he said. “In addition, following these best fi nancial and management practices in having a healthy annual surplus allows fl exibility for the Town to continue to fund and build the Town’s Stabilization account (rainy day fund) and pay for snow and ice costs within the year they were incurred.” “These are all sound fi nancial management practices highlighted in the recent S&P Global bond rating report,” he said. The Town began recovering from long-term fiscal instability and the midst of a crisis when Crabtree fi rst became Town Manager in 2012. After implementing sound fi nancial practices and policies, Crabtree said he made it his administration’s goal of having free cash HYBRID | FROM PAGE 1 votes in the past to hold this off . To delay the opening was the right thing,” he said. Hatch prefers “traditional learning” as soon as possible School Committee Member John Hatch, who has been a staunch advocate of returning children back to the classroom as soon as possible, said he would support the Jan. 19 date, providing the School Committee in the near future considers plans for students returning to a full week of classes. “It’s time to have a conversation about getting these kids back to a regular learning environment,” Hatch said. “Bring these kids back to a more traditional learning setting. I think we can keep the kids safe,” he said. Prior to taking the vote on whether and when to return to the hybrid model, the committee had to approve a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that had been negotiated with union offi cials representing faculty and staff. “It affi rms for the faculty and staff that we take safety seriously,” School Committee Vice Chair Ryan Fisher said in an interview Tuesday night after the meeting. certifi ed between 3 and 5 percent of the Town’s annual budget. “It was this formal fi nancial management adopted policy that helped the Town reach its free cash and fi nancial goals. The certifi ed free cash has partially been used to help fund deposits in the Town’s stabilization (or rainy day) fund and contributed to the Town’s bond rating increases, which has boosted the overall fi nancial stability, fl exibility, and sustainability of the Town, according to the press release. Free cash consists of unanticipated revenues, account balances and other miscellaneous receipts that were obtained throughout the previous year. The certifi ed free cash of $4.2 million was obtained from higher than projected revenues in the form of permits, excise taxes, tax title revenue, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement from previous years’ storms, and other nonrecurring, economy-driven sources. In addition, other strategically planned contributors to this year’s certifi ed free cash were the rollover of certifi ed free cash from the previous year and a slowdown of discretionary budgetary spending “It goes into detail on PPE, masks, social distancing, and gets into the nuts and bolts of what happens in a variety of scenarios involving COVID,” he said. “The incorporation of livestreaming was very important, because it keeps classes together regardless of where students are on a daily basis, and it provides stability in scenarios where a student is suddenly quarantined or if a classroom is fl ipped to remote due to COVID.” But not everybody on the committee agreed with the MOA. The committee voted 4-1 to ratify it, with Committee Member Arthur Grabowski being the lone opponent. “I think nothing in this document improves the quantity and quality of education for our students,” Grabowski said. He also took great umbrage with the idea that safety had to be negotiated when it is already the responsibility of the superintendent, school administration and the School Committee to make sure that students go to school in a safe environment. “To me, it’s kind of a slap in the face,” Grabowski told his colleagues. “Philosophically, I have a problem with it…. There are some areas in here that are beyond the scope of the union’s interest.” from the operating budget due to the anticipated negative impact of the pandemic on revenues and collections. “This certified free cash amount will help to maintain fi nancial stability and fl exibility within the Town and sustain efforts towards continuing to maintain and potentially upgrade the Town’s bond rating,” Crabtree said. Recently, the bond rating was reaffi rmed as the second-highest tier, an AA+/Stable rating, with national rating agency S&P Global Ratings. This ranking, which continues to be the highest in Saugus’s history, is saving the taxpayers and Town substantially on current and future borrowing costs. Crabtree thanked the employees, the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Town Meeting for accepting and working within the now long-established financial management policies that made this possible. “Our Town has obtained and now maintains a healthy and sound financial outlook, thanks to the continued support of those serving our community and working towards a unifi ed vision,” Crabtree said. New COVID policies needed Meanwhile, Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi, Jr., the administration and School Committee members have additional work to do in order for a smooth transition from remote learning to the hybrid learning model. School Committee members insisted that DeRuosi post a schedule and other information about the plan on the School Department website yesterday so that parents are adequately briefed in advance. DeRuosi said he planned to take care of that. Fisher asked about standards for coming back into hybrid learning (i.e., if a parent is aware their child has been exposed, etc., they are required to do ABC...) and that will require a policy. Gould asked about a policy for parents who wish to be hybrid but may wish to stay remote a bit longer, which will also require a policy. “The School Committee should meet to get a policy for safe COVID practices,” DeRuosi said. So that would require a meeting of the policy subcommittee, of which Grabowski and Hatch are members. Whittredge also said the HYBRID | SEE PAGE 14

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