Town Clerk, HR and DEI offices present FY25 budgets; town clerk highlights digitization and election preparations

Town Clerk Ben Coffin told the Select Board that FY25 priorities include administering three elections (state primary Sept. 3, 2024; presidential Nov. 5, 2024; and the May 2025 town election), expanding early‑voting access and continuing a multi‑year digitization effort. Coffin said the town added ballot drop boxes and saw more than 1,300 voters use them in the March election; he also described a plan to create an "elections and census" division and to complete codification of the general bylaws with a vendor (General Code) for potential insertion into the November 2024 Town Meeting warrant.

"We installed ballot drop boxes throughout the town... Over 1,300 voters used those drop boxes to vote in the March election," Coffin said, adding that presidential election turnout could approach 75–80 percent, driving higher overtime and processing costs.

HR Director Anne Braga presented a modest FY25 budget increase (about 1%) and described four priorities: (1) a classification and compensation study (roughly half complete), (2) training and development (NEOGOV Learn rollout), (3) collaboration with departments and labor groups, and (4) updating personnel policies and IT resource rules. Braga described an increase in investigative workloads for harassment, workplace safety and related complaints and said HR needs more permanent capacity to handle investigations and talent management work.

Lloyd Gellineau of the Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community Relations (ODEICR) said the office had increased by roughly 15% for FY25, driven mainly by a larger professional services line for language access work and investigator/mediation support; the office recently hired a full‑time language access coordinator and plans to finalize a townwide ADA transition plan, develop a racial equity dashboard and expand community outreach.

Board members asked about timelines for codifying bylaws, how overtime and election reimbursements are budgeted, whether ARPA funds could support digitization, and whether retirement and pension funding needs are being coordinated. Coffin said codification work is expected to come before town meeting in November if vendor deliverables arrive on schedule; staff noted state reimbursements for some election costs remain inconsistent.

Quotes:
- "In FY24 we improved digitization ... we were able to put our entire marriage license procedures online," Town Clerk Ben Coffin said.
- "We've hired a training and development coordinator ... and we'll go live with NEOGOV Learn," HR Director Anne Braga said.
- "We completed the town's language access assessment and hired a full time language access coordinator," Lloyd Gellineau said.

What happens next: budget deliberations continue in the town's FY25 planning process; Select Board and advisory committee reviews will proceed ahead of Town Meeting and final appropriations.