Townsend Finance Committee Reviews FY27 Staffing Costs, Flags Recreation Fund Questions

Finance Committee · Meeting of January 27, 2026

Townsend Finance Committee opens FY27 budget review with debate over town administrator pay and recreation fund oversight. At the January 27 meeting, all seven members present — including Chair Don Hayes and Vice-Chair Jerrilyn Bozicas — worked through preliminary spending figures that would raise the town administrator salary from roughly $126,000 to $170,000, a figure the acting administrator defended by noting Groton pays close to $200,000 and Pepperell approximately $185,000 to $187,000. The committee also flagged that a fitness court installation project is stalled roughly $50,000 short of completion, with donated equipment sitting in a town garage under a contract the town has repeatedly pushed past its installation deadline.

Member Maryjane Churchville, who also sits on the Recreation Commission, pressed colleagues to examine the department's revolving fund alongside its general fund appropriation, saying "we didn't get any answers last year." The committee accepted minutes for December 23 and January 13 unanimously and deferred highway budget review to joint Select Board sessions planned for February 3 and February 10.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of January 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.