Goldsmith Proposes $43.9M Spending Plan; Includes Five New Positions

 CHATHAM – In the lead-up to the spring annual town meeting, Town Manager Jill Goldsmith has proposed a balanced budget for fiscal 2026 that includes funding for five new full-time equivalent positions. 

 In a presentation prepared for this week’s select board meeting, Goldsmith floated a $43,921,522 operating budget, which does not include school spending of around $11.7 million or a proposed capital budget of nearly $3 million. She described the spending plan as a “staying the course” budget designed to “continue efforts to address current challenges, enhance service delivery, and pave the way for lasting community investment.” The budget would not draw on the town’s reserves or require the tax levy to increase above the allowed 2.5 percent.

 Available for viewing on the Budget Central portion of the town’s website, the spending plan is designed to reflect the priorities identified by the select board. Those goals include fostering year-round housing, educational excellence, a sustainable local economy, a strong environment, responsible water management, and a “diverse, welcoming and livable Chatham.”

The spending plan projects new revenue growth at a conservative $350,000 and local receipts up a conservative 21.56 percent; if the town’s revenue is higher, that will likely help support the town’s continued strong bond rating, officials said. In addition to strong property tax revenue driven by rising values, the budget anticipates strong revenue from local option taxes, including the hotel/motel and meals taxes. Because of an accounting quirk, the amount of free cash certified at the end of the last fiscal year was just over $11 million, far higher than usual. Goldsmith has proposed using this non-recurring revenue to support capital projects like the redesign of the transfer station and the renovations at the Center for Active Living.

 On the expense side of the ledger, the proposed operating budget is up 7.62 percent over the current fiscal year’s spending, less the amount the town pays to the Monomoy and Cape Tech school districts in educational expenses.

 “The primary drivers of this year’s budget increase are salaries, employee benefits, debt service and the rising costs of general liability insurance,” Goldsmith’s budget presentation reads. Wages and benefits make up more than 70 percent of the core operating budget, and this year were driven in part by new collective bargaining contracts for public safety workers as well as staffing of the new Ryder’s Cove adult day program, which was funded by a state grant this year but which will be the town’s responsibility to fund in the future.

 In their budget requests to the town manager, department heads this year sought a total of eight new full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions. One of those, a civil engineering technician needed by the DPW, is being funded by the realignment of other positions. Of the seven remaining staff position requests, Goldsmith has opted to include five in her budget.

 The first is a local inspector for the community development department, required to help the town comply with the new state building code and its more frequent inspection requirements. The position would be funded in part by a planned $100 increase in the town’s annual application fee for short-term rental properties. Currently, that fee stands at $50, with those funds supporting the health department.

 “Ouch,” select board member Jeffrey Dykens said of the planned fee increase.

 The second FTE proposed is a boat operator and mechanic for the harbormaster division. “It would supplement the current four full-time equivalents in the division who all have administrative responsibilities, which reduces their operational coverage,” Human Resources Director Megan Downey told the select board last week.

 The police department sought two new positions for sworn officers, with the goal of reducing overtime costs; the last time the department expanded its staff was 1984. Goldsmith has recommended adding one new position to judge the effect on overtime and workload. Police Chief Michael Anderson said he agrees with the approach, particularly since taxpayers approved and expanded the Community Service Officer program, which has helped with parking enforcement and other duties.

 “That really takes up a lot of work from the staff,” the chief said.

 Goldsmith supported adding two FTE groundskeepers for the DPW, in part to provide maintenance of town cemeteries. The expected cost of the positions is offset somewhat by a decrease in the department’s contracted services account.

 In all, the five FTE positions add $426,183 to the proposed budget, including the cost of insurance and other benefits.

 Speaking last week, select board Chair Michael Schell noted that the town’s staff increased by 5 percent from 2014 to 2018, then remained flat for three years before jumping 17.8 percent between 2020 and 2025.

 “That’s a pretty healthy increase,” he said. “And I don’t think, over the longer period of time, it’s sustainable.”

 Goldsmith argued that in fiscal ‘21 the town began a program to add staff to reflect the additional duties and programs that left existing staff overextended. After a pause during the pandemic, that program resumed in fiscal ‘23 and ‘24, when 15.5 new FTE positions were created. Departments were directed not to request new staff positions for the current year’s spending plan “to further evaluate positive impacts of the additional positions created in the previous years and to determine any further alignments that would enhance efficiencies,” she wrote. There were some realignments, and the fiscal ’26 budget seeks to resume that previous effort to address workload challenges by adding positions.

 The draft budget will continue to be refined as more detailed figures become available for school spending and other expenditures, and the select board will be reviewing the budget in detail through next month. The finance committee will begin holding its own review starting this week. Voters will ultimately consider the spending plan at the May 10 annual town meeting.