Carver Finance Committee Reviews Six FY27 Budgets, Including New EMS Deputy Position

CARVER — December 15, 2025 — Carver Finance Committee hears six FY27 budget presentations, spotlighting an EMS staffing overhaul and $650,000 billing gap. EMS Chief Mike Ryan told the committee his department, which is entirely self-funded through transport revenue, is carrying more than $650,000 in uncollected bills and has contracted with a debt collection firm that will retain 35 percent of recoveries. Ryan's FY27 salary request carries an 8 percent increase, driven largely by the re-creation of a full-time deputy EMS chief at grade B, step one with a 10 percent on-call stipend, a position vacant since FY24. His operating budget stands at $160,250, up 5 percent. Finance Director Karen Preval, presenting on behalf of an absent Treasurer-Collector Kathy Kaye, requested a pay reclassification for payroll coordinator Trish Fuller from grade G, step seven to grade E, step one — raising her hourly rate from $29.15 to $32.77, still below the regional average of $34.30. Conservation Agent Grayson resigned the prior week; the town extended an interim contract offer on Friday. A committee member flagged that Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical School is convening a five-town meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. in Rochester to present five facility options and must report to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by mid-January.