Taunton council revotes Nov. 10 on budget money including a firefighter raise, also takes up retiree COLA and snow rules

TAUNTON Taunton's City Council gets a second vote Tuesday, Nov. 10, on the money to finish its fiscal 2027 budget, including a firefighter raise an arbitrator ordered, after the mayor resubmitted the request unchanged.

The council voted 5-4 against the request on Oct. 27, then voted 9-0 that night to reconsider it and take it up on Nov. 10 by roll call, the assistant city clerk recorded. The same meeting takes up a higher cost-of-living base for city retirees and a rewrite of the rule on clearing sidewalks of snow.

The budget vote

The spending that failed on Oct. 27 totaled $717,583 from the general fund, South Coast 360 reported at the time, with about $129,600 for the arbitration raise across eight Fire Department accounts and about $481,000 for the reserve fund. The city auditor's letter puts the final fiscal 2027 budget at $336.4 million: $308.6 million in the general fund, $17.8 million for sewer, nearly $10 million for water and $40,000 for the golf enterprise.

In a Nov. 6 letter to Council President Barry Sanders and the council, Mayor Shaunna O'Connell wrote that the supplemental budget pays for "the City's obligations under the arbitration ruling involving Taunton firefighters, as well as salary and buyout payments owed to City employees." She wrote, "These are not discretionary expenses; they are contractual and legal obligations the City is required to honor."

Without the money, she wrote, the city could fall out of compliance with a binding arbitration decision and face "additional legal costs, financial liability, labor disputes, and potential claims for treble damages." She said the administration kept the budget balanced without a Proposition 2 1/2 override, layoffs or service cuts, partly by leaving some positions unfilled. "The supplemental budget is being resubmitted as originally presented," she wrote.

On Oct. 27, Councilor Edward Correira said he would vote no until the council got $50,000 for a lawyer of its own. Tuesday's agenda carries Councilor Debra Botellio's motion, passed 7-2 that night, for the city solicitor to meet with the council on Nov. 10 about money for a council attorney and guidelines for one. Under state law, a city council may cut or reject budget amounts but cannot raise them without the mayor's recommendation.

A bigger COLA base for retirees

The Taunton Retirement Board voted Aug. 26 to raise the base on which retirees' cost-of-living increases are figured from $16,000 to $17,000, effective July 1, 2027, Executive Director Paul J. Slivinski wrote in an Oct. 30 letter. He wrote that after an actuarial valuation as of Jan. 1, the board found it feasible "to pass on some of the investment gains earned to the retirees." State law requires the council's approval for the increase to take effect.

Clearing sidewalks after snow

City Solicitor Matthew J. Costa sent the council a revised snow and ice ordinance that he said would require all property owners to clear the sidewalks along their land, clarify enforcement and let the mayor exempt elderly, low-income or disabled residents. He wrote that the Law Department drafted it with the administration to address problems from last winter. The draft calls for a 36-inch path, or the whole sidewalk if it is narrower, cleared within four hours after snow stops in the daytime or by 11 a.m. the next day after nighttime snow, and ice cleared within 24 hours. Police, the building commissioner, the public works superintendent and other city staff the mayor names could enforce it, with fines of up to $50 per violation. During a governor's state of emergency covering Taunton, the deadlines would pause for 24 hours after the storm ends or until the emergency ends, whichever is later.

Also on the agenda

The council will see a requisition for six permanent full-time police officers and a notice of intent to sell land on Cotley Street taxed as farmland under state law; the city has 120 days to decide whether to buy it at the price in the notice, Costa wrote in a separate letter. It also plans a closed-door session to finalize the police chief's employment contract; the city had no signed contract yet with incoming Chief Eric Nichols as of Nov. 4, South Coast 360 reported. At 5:30 p.m., the Finance and Salaries committee hears an early look at the city's first-quarter fiscal 2027 results.

How to weigh in

The council meets at 7 p.m. in the Chester R. Martin Municipal Council Chambers at City Hall, 15 Summer St. Public input comes right after the roll call and the reading of the records; speakers give their name and address and have up to three minutes, and written comments are accepted. The City Council office is at 508-821-1035, and meetings stream on the Taunton Municipal Network.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.