Agenda Preview: Town Council to Address School Funding, Proposed Audit & Union/Non-Union Salary increases at June 30 Meeting
Special meeting rescheduled from June 26th will include union and non-union personnel salary discussions and resolution for independent review of regional school district operations.
The Bridgewater Town Council will address school district finances following the Bridgewater-Raynham School District’s certification of a budget on June 26th. The District’s certified budget must be approved by both the Bridgewater Town Council and Raynham Select Board within 45 days. Failure by either town to fund the budget would result in a “one-twelfth” budget, based on the previous year’s spending, which school officials warned would result in deep cuts. Failure to fund the budget by December 1, 2025 could further result in the Commonwealth assuming managerial control of the school district.
The district’s newly certified budget follows failed overrides in both Bridgewater and Raynham on June 21 and June 24, respectively.
The Council will also consider a resolution calling for an independent operational review of the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District during its June 30 special meeting.
Council President Johnny Loreti has introduced Resolution R-FY25-014, which requests the school committee commission an independent third-party review of district operations and finances. The resolution cites the council's "fiduciary responsibility to its residents to ensure that all public funds are allocated and managed in a manner that is sustainable, efficient, and aligned with community priorities."
The proposed review would examine budgeting procedures, staffing structure, special education costs, central administration overhead, and compliance with financial controls.
"Recent trends in school budget growth, combined with constrained municipal revenues and a failed override, have underscored the need for a thorough evaluation of how educational resources are budgeted, deployed, and managed," the resolution states.
The council will also vote on several personnel-related appropriation transfers totaling more than $100,000. Three orders address union contract ratification and funding for United Steel Workers Local 9517 Unit 04, covering employees from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.
The contract includes a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2024, with a 2.5 percent increase for employees at the contract’s top step. The agreement provides 2 percent annual increases for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, recognizes Juneteenth in the contracts’ holiday article, and revises vacation accrual policies to reduce rollover and lessen the town’s financial obligations related to the payment of accrued but unused time when an employee resigns, retires or is otherwise terminated.
The contract allows employees to carry over up to 40 hours of unused vacation time, which must be used by July 1 or be forfeited.
Order O-FY25-069 appropriates $67,654 from stabilization funds and water and sewer reserves to cover the steel workers contract costs across multiple departments. A separate order transfers $38,279 for non-union affiliated position salary adjustments, representing a 2 percent increase per non-union employee.
The Finance Committee voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the union contracts and related appropriations at its June 23 meeting.
The council will also consider Order O-FY25-073, which would set the newly elected town clerk's salary at Grade 13, Step 2, or $44.67 per hour annually totaling $93,270.71. Finance Committee Chairwoman MJ Spagone requested additional data before making a recommendation.
"It is the Committee's sincere hope that with the recent override election's outcome in mind, the Town Council will have a more fulsome conversation regarding the Town Clerk's salary," Spagone wrote in a memo to the council.
The committee asked for comparable salary data from other Massachusetts municipalities, population comparisons, and compensation policy structures before reconsidering the measure.
The council will also vote to accept a $1,500 donation from the Oliari Charitable Foundation to the Bridgewater Public Library. The funds will support the Flora T. Little Fellowship program stipend.
Two appointments to the TIF Ad Hoc Oversight Committee for 60-86 Broad Street are scheduled for approval. Dan Greenberg and former District 3 Councilor Fred Chase are nominated to serve on the tax increment financing oversight panel.
The special meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the second floor of the Academy Building at 66 Central Square. The session will be streamed live on YouTube with a link available on the Town of Bridgewater Facebook page.
See the complete agenda courtesy of the Town of Bridgewater.