Carver Finance Committee Reviews FY27 Budgets From Four Municipal Departments

CARVER -- December 10, 2025, Carver Finance Committee previews lean FY27 budgets across four departments amid tight revenue. The committee, which welcomed two new members, Jack Spanetto and Jim Elliman, heard presentations December 10 from IT Director John Neely, Library Director Carol Julius, Operations and Maintenance Director Dave Sintoff, Fire Deputy Chief Eric Jermaine, and retiring Police Chief Mark Dufresne, with Dufresne introducing Select Board-appointed successor Sergeant Matt Rayner. Town Administrator Glenn Cannon described the overall budget environment as constrained by revenue shortfalls, prompting cuts across departments. Sintoff accepted reductions but put the committee on notice that four maintenance lines are a combined roughly $68,000 below his requested figures, including a $33,000 gap in building repair and maintenance, and may require supplemental requests. Julius pressed for a reclassification of her assistant director from Grade F to Grade E, an increase of approximately $7,000 annually, framing it as a retention matter ahead of her own expected retirement. The fire department's all-call model was credited with saving the town an estimated $4 million to $5 million annually compared to a career department, backed by an ISO rating of 2-2-Y placing Carver in the top 4 percent of fire departments nationally. Police salaries rose a real 4 percent after a $64,000 accounting correction tied to contract negotiations that concluded after last year's Town Meeting.