COVID-19 Prompts Deep Spending Cuts CHATHAM — Thanks to the pandemic, voters at the annual town meeting scheduled for June 22 will likely see some extreme social distancing, along with a warrant stripped down of big-ticket spending articles and a sobering town budget. Selectmen chose the new date for town meeting on Monday, but a provision is in place that allows the town moderator to postpone the session f...

ORLEANS — April is proving to be the cruelest month when it comes to town finances. Department heads were asked to reduce spending through June 30, the end of the fiscal year, to ensure a reserve of about half a million dollars to balance an anticipated drop in revenues from local receipts related to the effects of the pandemic. In a letter to finance committee chairman Lynn Bruneau, Finance Director Cathy ...

CHATHAM — Facing the possibility that all sorts of fee and tax revenue will be down because of the COVID-19 emergency, town officials are preparing an austere budget plan for fiscal 2021. Finance Director Alix Heilala told selectmen Monday that she and Town Manager Jill Goldsmith are making contingency plans in case available revenue declines to 75 percent or even half of the current year’s local receipts. ...

HARWICH — While the police department is down a couple of members, the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted the department's operation significantly, and Police Chief David Guillemette said he considers staffing stable. Guillemette was responding to concerns raised by Selectman Michael MacAskill about the impact a spending freeze instituted by the board might have on public safety. The spending freeze applies to...

HARWICH — A freeze on non-essential spending has been put in place by selectmen in an effort to keep town costs down given the unknown financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the community. Selectmen last week expressed concern that revenues could be lost if the pandemic keeps people away from the Cape this summer. Various taxes and fees, such as the meals and hotel taxes, would likely be lower than...

ORLEANS — While fire department personnel “have consistently provided the highest possible level of emergency services to the Orleans community,” according to a new study, the current staffing model “is neither sustainable nor efficient.” A staffing and organizational review by Emergency Services Consulting International recommends a reorganization to increase minimum staffing to four firefighters per shift, r...

CHATHAM – There is a level of “institutional stress” underlying next year's proposed town budget that may indicate it's time to step back, look at priorities and “take our foot off the gas,” according to a report from the finance committee. The fincom had a “qualitatively different response to the budget” this year rather than the usual quantitative approach, Chairman Stephen Daniel told selectmen last week. R...

HARWICH — Responding to clear direction from the board of selectmen, Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers delivered an austere town budget proposal Monday that holds growth to less than half a percent in FY21. In presenting the draft spending plan, Powers announced that he has imposed a freeze on hiring for any new positions advertised after Feb. 6. Finalized just hours before this week’s board meeting, th...

HARWICH — The former fire station on Bank Street could be demolished in the near future. Selectmen last week instructed Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers to take the steps necessary to begin the process. Powers said Selectman Michael MacAskill requested moving ahead with the demolition plans and a site visit was held with Town Engineer Griffin Ryder and Harbormaster John Rendon. The building has not bee...

ORLEANS — The town’s projected budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1, includes a 2.9 percent decrease in the tax rate and no property tax increase. On the other hand, the first look at operating expenses for the non-school budget shows a 4.7 increase, a bit over the board of selectmen’s 4 percent cap. But there could be good news there, too, if the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group sets coverage rates lo...

ORLEANS — “New occasions teach new duties,” James Russell Lowell wrote. That thought may be helpful as Nauset Regional School District taxpayers weigh a high school reconstruction project that will benefit not only the district’s children but also some from other Cape towns as well as adult learners from the system’s four communities. The Eastham high school’s student body is a mix of pupils from Brewster, Eas...

Selectmen: Focus More On Project Management CHATHAM — Town Manager Jill Goldsmith has proposed a $32,733,626 operating budget for fiscal 2021. Designed to keep the current level of services, the budget is up nearly 6 percent over the current year’s spending plan and includes the equivalent of five new full-time employees. Selectmen praised Goldsmith and Finance Director Alix Heilala for the budget, and se...

HARWICH — The town has generous tax exemption programs for residents over 65 years of age, veterans, and people who are sight-impaired, but there is little in the way of programs to help younger families and residents who are facing financial hardship. Board of Assessors Chairman Richard Waystack raised the issue of establishing a hardship exemption tax credit for people under 65 years of age during a presenta...

HARWICH — The lack of landfill space and other means of disposing of municipal solid waste in Massachusetts is having a major financial impact on communities. That was made perfectly clear Monday night when selectmen approved two one-year contracts with per-ton rate increases of nearly $20. “Recycling markets have degenerated and we have more trash than we have outlets,” DPW Director Lincoln Hooper told select...

HARWICH — In the next few years, voters will be asked to fund a number of big-ticket capital projects, but the funding requests from the fire department will be a bit lower than originally expected. Facing the need for a new ladder truck and a new pumper, the department will instead seek to buy a "quint," which can perform both functions at a fire scene. The move could save taxpayers around $900,000 over the cost...

ORLEANS — Fine-tooth combs were the order of the day as the finance committee delved into the details of the Nauset Regional High School building project last week. Its guests included the chairmen of the building committee and the regional school committee as well as Superintendent Tom Conrad. Renovation and construction at the half-century-old Eastham campus could cost up to $140 million, with the district’s...