Woburn finance committee reviews FY25 city-side budget; mayor calls it "relatively lean"

The Woburn City Committee on Finance heard department presentations Tuesday night on the proposed FY25 city-side budget, which the mayor said projects roughly a $2.8 million (3.38%) increase over the prior year. Mayor Concannon described the plan as "a relatively lean budget, essentially level funded with a few exceptions," and said department heads had pared requests where possible.

The treasurer and collector, Tim (treasurer and collector), told the committee the office is broadly level-funded but noted several line-item increases, including payroll and bank fees tied to a recent bank acquisition and rising postage costs. "Interest on investments has had a great year this year… we're up over $2,500,000 for the year," he said, a revenue source the city is counting on as it balances operating needs.

City Clerk Lindsay warned election and ballot costs have climbed after multiple citywide elections and new statutory requirements. Lindsay told the committee Woburn now has 29,686 registered voters, a figure she said directly affects printing, postage and staffing cost projections and supports a future capital request for poll pads.

Department heads identified a mix of small operating increases and specific needs. Recreation Director Rory said the department is seeking modest wage increases for seasonal staff, a 25% boost to a special-needs summer account to meet rising demand, and reiterated a prior, unfunded request for a program coordinator; he said the city’s new spray park and increased programming may make an additional full-time position necessary in the near term.

The Council on Aging requested $55,000 in capital to add at least one replacement van and described mounting transportation demand; the director also asked the city to consider an outreach social worker funded, in part, by formula grant dollars. "We serve about 150 to 200 seniors every day," the director said, calling transportation and outreach needs a "lifeline" for many residents.

Public safety officials asked for new personnel to reduce overtime. Fire Chief Kenton told the committee the department’s operating budget reflects a roughly 7% increase largely to fund five new firefighter positions "who will graduate in a couple of weeks," and said the overtime account is budgeted at $1.4 million. The chief said the hires are intended to cut costly overtime and ease long-term staffing strain.

Other discussion topics included a proposal from the Board of Health to move toward automated curbside containers (96-gallon recycling, 64-gallon trash) to improve recycling rates and realize operational savings, conservation commission requests for an administrative support position and modest increases for trail and property maintenance, and assessing office plans to use mobile-assessor technology and contracted personal-property audits that have returned revenue in prior years.

Cemetery staff warned bids for landscaping and tree work rose significantly and said the city and cemetery will share increased costs under a new local contract planned to start around July 1; councilors also raised recurring complaints about after-hours mischief and dog-walking in burial grounds and asked the cemetery commission and police to pursue options such as adjusted gate hours or limited enforcement.

The committee heard several expressions of support for the departments’ front-line services and for targeted investments meant to reduce long-term costs (for example, hiring firefighters to cut overtime). Procedural motions on minor agenda items carried by voice vote. The committee will resume work with the school-side budget at the next scheduled meeting.