Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2026-05-18

Appropriations & Oversight Committee-Budget Hearing

This meeting starts at 0:01 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Attendance

Jason Chen present · At-Large; Cal Finocchiaro present · Ward 6; Bradley Freeman present · President, Ex Officio; Maya Jamaleddine present · At-Large; Manjula Karamcheti absent · Ward 1; Elizabeth Kowal present · At-Large; John Obremski present · Ward 2; Christopher Park present · Ward 3; Kimberly Vandiver present · Vice Chair; Ryan Williams absent · At-Large

Agenda

Minutes

Appropriations & Oversight Committee Monday, May 18, 2026, 7:00 PM City Council Chamber, 1st Floor 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Kimberly Vandiver Vice Chair Jason Chen Cal Finocchiaro Maya Jamaleddine Manjula Karamcheti Elizabeth Kowal John Obremski Christopher Park Ryan Williams William Bradley Freeman President, Ex Officio Devin Romanul Chair Meeting was called to order by Chair Romanul at 7:00 PM Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Kim Vandiver Vice Chair Present Jason Chen At-Large Present Cal Finocchiaro Ward 6 Present Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Present Manjula Karamcheti Ward 1 Absent Elizabeth Kowal At-Large Present John Obremski Ward 2 Present Christopher Park Ward 3 Present Ryan Williams At-Large Absent William Bradley Freeman President, Ex Officio Present Member Devin Romanul Chair Present II. MINUTES APPROVAL 1 Appropriations & Oversight Committee Meeting May 14, 2026 7:00 PM Motion to Approve the minutes by unanimous consent made by Chair Romanul RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver III. PUBLIC COMMENT When: May 18, 2026 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: Appropriations & Oversight Committee-Budget Hearing Meeting Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://cityofmelrose- org.zoom.us/j/91329711764?pwd=NbNOYzt7Q3PzplhbaMgikSDg0s734s.1 Passcode:224249 Webinar ID: 913 2971 1764 Motion to Open public comment made by Chair Romanul at 7:02 PM Comments on the floor: Bob Driscoll, 33 Thurston Road, a retired firefighter, retired Air Force colonel and chairman of the Melrose Veterans Advisory Board, spoke in support of maintaining the Welcome Home veterans sign at City Hall. The sign is a symbol of correcting mistakes of the past and supporting all veterans in the future. There were no comments via Zoom. Motion to Close public comment made by Chair Romanul at 7:05 PM IV. DEPARTMENT BUDGET PRESENTATIONS A. Department Presenter n/a Revenues Overview 121 Mayor 543 Veteran Services 2607 Veteran Services Revolving Account 541 Council on Aging 2811 Council on Aging Revolving Account 2 161 City Clerk 162 Election/Registrar 112 City Council Revenues Overview Mayor Grigoraitis and CFO Kerri Golden gave a revenue overview for FY27. Kerri presented detailed revenue projections, explaining that real estate and personal property taxes comprise 76% of the budget, with state aid making up 17%, and local receipts contributing 6–7%. The presentation covered various revenue sources including property taxes, state aid, local receipts, and other funding sources, with specific attention to how local receipts are estimated and adjusted based on actual performance. Kerri's document is attached to the minutes. Department 121 Mayor Cheif of Staff Lauren Grymek outlined their operations which include constituent services, events coordination, communications strategy, and special initiatives, noting they maintain a staff of two and a half people including a communications manager and part-time executive assistant. Lauren reviewed key accomplishments from FY26, highlighting significant efforts around the education campaign for the tax override, supplemental budget planning, ongoing engagement with state and federal delegations, and continued focus on educating residents on activities and events. The city website was transitioned to CivicPlus with Tom Dalton taking over as website manager. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Department 543 Veteran Services Tammy Shovelton, Veterans Services Director, presented on the department, outlining the office's responsibilities under Chapter 115, recent moves to a new location, and upcoming events including the rededication of the Otis W. Bishop Monument Park. She discussed the codification of the tax veteran workoff program and budget increases, explaining that some line items appear larger because they were previously removed during leaner times but have been restored due to the budget override. She detailed how Chapter 115 benefits were increased by 10% and outlined various uses for mileage reimbursement, including home visits for veterans who cannot travel, visits to veterans in hospitals and cemeteries, and training attendance. She has worked on 77 disability claims and appeals since she started in the position, with an average of $200-$5,000 per month being approved for veterans. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Finocchiaro Seconded by Councilor Chen 3 All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Meeting was recessed by Chair Romanul at 7:45 PM to open city council meeting Meeting was resumed by Chair Romanul at 7:47 PM Department 2607 Veteran Services Revolving Account Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Coucilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Motion by unanimous consent to take ID# 2026-1169 out of order made by Chair Romanul Department 541 Council on Aging Erica Drummond, COA Director, presented the Council on Aging's budget, highlighting their mission to connect older adults with resources and services, including transportation and programming at the Milano Center which served 1,241 individuals who have checked in 15,184 times this year, and provided 2,209 rides this fiscal year. The council discussed a 13.4% salary increase for full-time staff due to step and level chart requirements, with no new positions being added. Roughly 20% of Melrose residents are age 65 and older. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Jamaleddine Seconded by Councilor Kowal All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Department 2811 Council on Aging Revolving Account Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by President Freeman 4 Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Department 161 City Clerk City Clerk Tanji Cifuni explained that this office is the official keeper of all the history and records of Melrose. The mission is to remain dedicated to maintaining and protecting all of our historical records as safely as possible, while servicing the public by providing information in an efficient and timely manner. She presented the budget, which remained largely level-funded except for a 79.2% increase in agenda software due to new ADA compliance requirements for the website, with the clerk explaining that thousands of documents need to be made compliant. While the state requires full compliance next year, the city would be ready by mid-June if they proceed with the $8,871 implementation. The software would make all website documents, including agendas, minutes, and attachments, accessible to people with disabilities. This cost would be an amendment to the existing website contract under the CivicPlus umbrella. Councilor Jamaleddine asked for a cost comparison to a full-time in-house position with the city, and that would require much more funding. Councilor Chen shared that he had discussions with staff members about how to use AI in municipal websites They do a lot for city clerks to automate the day-to-day work, not to replace anyone, but to make the work more efficient. These software bundles are pretty inexpensive. It's $6,000 for a front- end and internal use for an unlimited number of users. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Chen Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Department 162 Election/Registrar City Clerk Cifuni reported on successful November elections with high turnout and discussed challenges with implementing electronic census submissions due to limitations in the state database. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by Councilor Park Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None 5 ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Department 112 City Council City Clerk Cifuni shared that the department has onboarded 4 new councilors this year, rolled out over 10 new ordinances in the past year, and established new applications that were needed for new licenses. The budget is level funded except for the advertising line. The larger than usual number of National Grid pole petitions last year required more funding for legal advertisements in newspapers. Motion to Move the Bottom Line made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Vandiver All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Motion by unanimous consent to take Item #2026-1178 out of order made by Chair Romanul V. APPROPRIATIONS FOR FY27

A. (ID # 2026-1208): An Appropriation in the amount of $126,652,797 to fund the Fiscal Year 2027 General Fund Operating Budget. Motion to Hold in Committee made by President Freeman Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams

B. (ID # 2026-1212): Reauthorization of the revolving fund table for Fiscal Year 2027. Motion to Hold in Committee made by Councilor Vandiver Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams VI. APPROPRIATIONS FOR FY26 6

A. (ID # 2026-1169): An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) to the Veterans Services Department (#543) in the amount of $30,000 to design and fabricate a new Welcome Home Veterans Sign for the City. Tammy Shovelton, Veterans Services Director, requested $30,000 from free cash to design and fabricate a new Welcome Home Veterans sign. She explained that the current sign was improperly installed without proper approval and that a new sign is needed to meet historic district requirements. Councilor Chen initially questioned the cost but changed his perspective after learning about the significance of the sign to past and future veterans, while Councilor Finocchiaro expressed support for the project after understanding the requirements and process. President Freeman expressed support for moving forward with the request as presented, noting concerns about timing given the June 30th fiscal year deadline and the need for three bids. Questions were raised about the project timeline and cost, while Tammy explained that the design process only recently received approval from the Veterans Advisory Board and Historic District Commission. The discussion concluded with questions about procurement rules and whether the council should set a maximum spending cap for the project. The discussion included details about the bidding process, with three quotes required and specifications for high-density foam materials, though all bidders would use the same materials per the design requirements. Councilor Chen moved to reduce the free cash request from $30,000 to $20,000, but the motion failed 5-4. Following this, Councilor Chen made a successful motion to approve the full $30,000 request, which passed unanimously. Any unused funds would roll over to next year's free cash. Motion to Reduce Free Cash Request to $20,000 made by Councilor Chen Seconded by Councilor Kowal Motion failed RESULT: FAILED AYES: Jason Chen, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, Christopher Park, Kim Vandiver NAYS: Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, John Obremski, Devin Romanul ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Chen Seconded by Councilor Park All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams

B. (ID # 2026-1178): An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) to the Election Department (#162) in the amount of $3,000 for a mailing. City Clerk Cifuni explained that the Elections Department needs to do a mailing to notify residents about mail-in ballot requests. In order to save money, this would be combined with the census and dog registration material mailing to reach 20,000 voters in a cost-effective manner. Councilor 7 Jamaleddine suggested monitoring the impact of this initiative to determine if it should be repeated in future years. Motion to Recommend made by Councilor Chen Seconded by Councilor Kowal All were in favor and motion passed RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] AYES: Jason Chen, Cal Finocchiaro, Bradley Freeman, Maya Jamaleddine, Elizabeth Kowal, John Obremski, Christopher Park, Devin Romanul, Kim Vandiver NAYS: None ABSENT: Manjula Karamcheti, Ryan Williams VII. ADJOURNMENT Motion to Adjourn by unanimous consent made by Chair Romanul at 9:04 PM Meeting was adjourned 8 CITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 112 CITY COUNCIL 51 SALARIES 011121 511000 S & W 62,887.48 72,595.00 72,595.00 57,287.90 72,595.00 73,746.00 1.6% TOTAL SALARIES 62,887.48 72,595.00 72,595.00 57,287.90 72,595.00 73,746.00 1.6% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011122 520500 ADVERTIS 2,302.00 300.00 300.00 1,910.00 300.00 3,000.00 900.0% 011122 521000 PRINTING 206.00 700.00 700.00 790.00 700.00 700.00 .0% 011122 523100 EXPENSES 11,000.00 11,000.00 11,000.00 9,737.46 11,000.00 12,000.00 9.1% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 13,508.00 12,000.00 12,000.00 12,437.46 12,000.00 15,700.00 30.8% TOTAL CITY COUNCIL 76,395.48 84,595.00 84,595.00 69,725.36 84,595.00 89,446.00 5.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 1 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 121 MAYOR 51 SALARIES 011211 511000 S & W 335,222.26 345,726.00 345,726.00 296,506.71 345,726.00 377,019.00 9.1% TOTAL SALARIES 335,222.26 345,726.00 345,726.00 296,506.71 345,726.00 377,019.00 9.1% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011212 521000 PRINTING 456.76 750.00 750.00 584.64 998.00 750.00 .0% 011212 523100 EXP ACCT 7,026.69 7,000.00 7,000.00 6,063.19 7,000.00 7,000.00 .0% 011212 525401 WEBSITE .00 9,000.00 9,000.00 9,000.00 9,000.00 12,000.00 33.3% 011212 529000 PROF SERV 486.90 4,000.00 4,000.00 9,029.05 9,500.00 6,000.00 50.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 7,970.35 20,750.00 20,750.00 24,676.88 26,498.00 25,750.00 24.1% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011212 540500 DUES/MEMB 22,828.00 24,500.00 24,500.00 23,780.00 24,500.00 24,500.00 .0% 011212 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 3,540.00 2,250.00 2,250.00 763.16 2,250.00 2,250.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 26,368.00 26,750.00 26,750.00 24,543.16 26,750.00 26,750.00 .0% TOTAL MAYOR 369,560.61 393,226.00 393,226.00 345,726.75 398,974.00 429,519.00 9.2% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 2 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 135 AUDITOR 51 SALARIES 011351 511000 S & W 386,437.15 407,422.00 407,422.00 347,802.58 407,422.00 343,703.00 -15.6% TOTAL SALARIES 386,437.15 407,422.00 407,422.00 347,802.58 407,422.00 343,703.00 -15.6% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011352 528600 AUDIT SERV 69,170.00 80,165.00 80,165.00 79,337.50 80,165.00 84,000.00 4.8% 011352 529000 PROF SERV 11,800.00 11,800.00 11,800.00 10,777.55 11,800.00 42,702.00 261.9% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 80,970.00 91,965.00 91,965.00 90,115.05 91,965.00 126,702.00 37.8% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011352 540500 DUES/MEMB 225.00 600.00 600.00 500.00 600.00 1,000.00 66.7% 011352 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 2,527.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 150.00 1,000.00 2,000.00 100.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 2,752.00 1,600.00 1,600.00 650.00 1,600.00 3,000.00 87.5% TOTAL AUDITOR 470,159.15 500,987.00 500,987.00 438,567.63 500,987.00 473,405.00 -5.5% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 3 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 141 ASSESSORS 51 SALARIES 011411 511000 S & W 244,040.09 256,712.00 256,712.00 220,689.14 256,712.00 272,319.00 6.1% TOTAL SALARIES 244,040.09 256,712.00 256,712.00 220,689.14 256,712.00 272,319.00 6.1% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011412 521000 PRINTING 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 .0% 011412 523000 MILEAGE 1,029.04 1,000.00 1,000.00 35.14 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 011412 528000 FEES 298.05 300.00 300.00 300.00 300.00 300.00 .0% 011412 529000 PROF SERV 3,327.75 15,900.00 15,900.00 30,793.16 31,507.99 15,900.00 .0% 011412 529300 REVAL 103,082.75 103,500.00 103,500.00 138,353.75 138,559.01 108,675.00 5.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 107,987.59 120,950.00 120,950.00 169,732.05 171,617.00 126,125.00 4.3% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 011412 530200 COPY SUP 181.70 200.00 200.00 192.02 200.00 200.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 181.70 200.00 200.00 192.02 200.00 200.00 .0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011412 540500 DUES/MEMB 695.00 700.00 700.00 694.00 700.00 700.00 .0% 011412 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 6,339.01 3,000.00 3,000.00 1,795.00 3,000.00 6,000.00 100.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 7,034.01 3,700.00 3,700.00 2,489.00 3,700.00 6,700.00 81.1% TOTAL ASSESSORS 359,243.39 381,562.00 381,562.00 393,102.21 432,229.00 405,344.00 6.2% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 4 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 145 TREASURER/COLLECTOR 51 SALARIES 011451 511000 S & W 419,478.42 441,481.00 441,481.00 381,753.01 441,481.00 532,737.00 20.7% TOTAL SALARIES 419,478.42 441,481.00 441,481.00 381,753.01 441,481.00 532,737.00 20.7% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011452 521000 PRINTING 9,720.05 20,000.00 20,000.00 4,713.77 20,000.00 16,250.00 -18.8% 011452 521500 POSTAGE 69,472.33 60,000.00 60,000.00 55,082.77 60,000.00 55,000.00 -8.3% 011452 521801 FOLD MAINT 1,470.00 1,400.00 1,400.00 1,544.00 1,400.00 1,400.00 .0% 011452 527600 OFFICE EQU 1,210.94 1,215.00 1,215.00 300.00 1,215.00 2,000.00 64.6% 011452 528002 TITLE FEES 880.39 1,260.00 1,260.00 1,105.00 1,639.61 3,500.00 177.8% 011452 529000 PROF SERV 17,788.31 14,848.00 14,848.00 3,937.59 15,961.75 15,000.00 1.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 100,542.02 98,723.00 98,723.00 66,683.13 100,216.36 93,150.00 -5.6% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011452 540500 DUES/MEMB 265.00 165.00 165.00 485.00 165.00 475.00 187.9% 011452 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 1,073.13 1,500.00 1,500.00 845.09 1,500.00 2,000.00 33.3% 011452 544100 SURETY 2,000.00 2,075.00 2,075.00 2,000.00 2,075.00 2,000.00 -3.6% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 3,338.13 3,740.00 3,740.00 3,330.09 3,740.00 4,475.00 19.7% TOTAL TREASURER/COLLECTOR 523,358.57 543,944.00 543,944.00 451,766.23 545,437.36 630,362.00 15.9% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 5 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 151 CITY SOLICITOR 51 SALARIES 011511 511000 S & W 165,764.98 148,603.00 148,603.00 128,598.75 148,603.00 171,959.00 15.7% 01151771 511000 S & W 114,306.22 119,475.00 119,475.00 103,496.50 119,475.00 123,061.00 3.0% TOTAL SALARIES 280,071.20 268,078.00 268,078.00 232,095.25 268,078.00 295,020.00 10.1% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011512 523100 EXPENSES 451.14 1,200.00 1,200.00 205.00 3,410.00 1,200.00 .0% 011512 529000 PROF SERV 33,104.27 30,000.00 30,000.00 10,332.90 31,790.00 30,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 33,555.41 31,200.00 31,200.00 10,537.90 35,200.00 31,200.00 .0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 011512 534200 BOOKS 357.00 500.00 500.00 407.00 500.00 500.00 .0% 011512 534250 ELECT MASS 3,322.00 3,850.00 3,850.00 3,816.00 4,454.00 4,152.00 7.8% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 3,679.00 4,350.00 4,350.00 4,223.00 4,954.00 4,652.00 6.9% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011512 540500 DUES/MEMB 1,300.00 2,730.00 2,730.00 1,270.00 2,730.00 2,500.00 -8.4% 011512 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 1,932.09 3,000.00 3,000.00 1,680.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 011512 544310 PROP INS 807,504.40 884,112.00 884,112.00 891,383.40 889,764.00 968,715.00 9.6% 011512 544500 CLAIMSDED 12,013.07 10,000.00 10,000.00 2,054.97 10,000.00 60,000.00 500.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 822,749.56 899,842.00 899,842.00 896,388.37 905,494.00 1,034,215.00 14.9% TOTAL CITY SOLICITOR 1,140,055.17 1,203,470.00 1,203,470.00 1,143,244.52 1,213,726.00 1,365,087.00 13.4% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 6 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 152 HUMAN RESOURCES 51 SALARIES 011521 511000 S & W 156,945.53 164,061.00 164,061.00 145,536.92 164,061.00 200,629.00 22.3% TOTAL SALARIES 156,945.53 164,061.00 164,061.00 145,536.92 164,061.00 200,629.00 22.3% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011522 520500 ADVERTISE 5,999.67 .00 8,000.00 12,653.84 10,357.75 8,000.00 .0% 011522 521000 PRINTING 96.96 100.00 100.00 91.00 100.00 100.00 .0% 011522 529600 ADA .00 .00 .00 10,000.00 .00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 6,096.63 100.00 8,100.00 22,744.84 10,457.75 18,100.00 123.5% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011522 540500 DUES/MEMB 539.00 519.00 519.00 574.00 519.00 519.00 .0% 011522 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 242.99 500.00 500.00 90.00 500.00 500.00 .0% 011522 543000 PHYSICAL 15,129.00 .00 12,000.00 10,790.00 10,253.00 12,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 15,910.99 1,019.00 13,019.00 11,454.00 11,272.00 13,019.00 .0% TOTAL HUMAN RESOURCES 178,953.15 165,180.00 185,180.00 179,735.76 185,790.75 231,748.00 25.1% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 7 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 155 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 51 SALARIES 011551 511000 S & W 390,639.04 410,358.00 410,358.00 337,308.93 410,358.00 425,211.00 3.6% TOTAL SALARIES 390,639.04 410,358.00 410,358.00 337,308.93 410,358.00 425,211.00 3.6% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011552 522000 TELEPHONE 156,475.53 100,000.00 100,000.00 80,749.54 128,788.95 100,000.00 .0% 011552 522004 WAN COMMUN 13,877.41 12,000.00 12,000.00 4,199.59 16,199.59 12,000.00 .0% 011552 525105 COMP MAINT 34,999.29 29,280.00 29,280.00 32,920.10 33,919.58 29,280.00 .0% 011552 525203 NET SERVIC 2,900.00 .00 .00 .00 2,100.00 .00 .0% 011552 525301 MUNIS SUPP 123,833.50 130,343.00 130,343.00 131,241.67 132,343.00 136,860.00 5.0% 011552 525303 LICENSES 245,353.97 265,491.00 265,491.00 289,562.90 300,377.14 288,766.00 8.8% 011552 525305 IT COM NOT 6,867.13 7,417.00 7,417.00 7,317.11 7,417.00 7,417.00 .0% 011552 525309 OSDBA 3,362.80 10,000.00 10,000.00 .00 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% 011552 525402 INTERNET 16,067.51 9,180.00 9,180.00 5,789.80 9,180.00 9,180.00 .0% 011552 529000 PROF SERV 106,251.87 105,000.00 105,000.00 120,139.76 123,882.32 105,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 709,989.01 668,711.00 668,711.00 671,920.47 764,207.58 698,503.00 4.5% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 011552 530120 COMP MISC 3,482.09 2,000.00 2,000.00 1,983.18 2,000.00 .00 -100.0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 3,482.09 2,000.00 2,000.00 1,983.18 2,000.00 .00 -100.0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011552 540700 SEMINARS 800.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 1,565.00 3,900.00 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 800.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 1,565.00 3,900.00 2,500.00 .0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 01155772 551097 SCHOOL IT 555,609.39 .00 525,000.00 614,969.95 226,600.61 525,000.00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 555,609.39 .00 525,000.00 614,969.95 226,600.61 525,000.00 .0% TOTAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 1,660,519.53 1,083,569.00 1,608,569.00 1,627,747.53 1,407,066.19 1,651,214.00 2.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 8 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 161 CITY CLERK 51 SALARIES 011611 511000 S & W 253,637.53 293,212.00 293,212.00 261,316.59 293,212.00 301,754.00 2.9% 011611 513000 OVERTIME 8,791.07 11,400.00 11,400.00 1,944.26 11,400.00 11,400.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 262,428.60 304,612.00 304,612.00 263,260.85 304,612.00 313,154.00 2.8% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011612 520500 ADVERTISE -26.07 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,144.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 .0% 011612 521000 PRINTING 3,377.03 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,313.44 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 011612 525109 DOG MAINT 1,523.45 1,700.00 1,700.00 1,000.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 .0% 011612 525308 AGENDASOFT .00 10,000.00 10,000.00 .00 10,000.00 17,915.00 79.2% 011612 529301 RECODE 7,912.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 8,156.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 12,786.41 26,200.00 26,200.00 12,613.44 26,200.00 34,115.00 30.2% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 011612 530501 VITALSUPPL 2,716.51 5,000.00 5,000.00 1,767.05 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 2,716.51 5,000.00 5,000.00 1,767.05 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011612 540500 DUES/MEMB 615.00 700.00 700.00 455.00 700.00 700.00 .0% 011612 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 885.60 4,000.00 4,000.00 620.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 .0% 011612 544100 SURETY 20.00 75.00 75.00 .00 75.00 75.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,520.60 4,775.00 4,775.00 1,075.00 4,775.00 4,775.00 .0% TOTAL CITY CLERK 279,452.12 340,587.00 340,587.00 278,716.34 340,587.00 357,044.00 4.8% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 9 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 162 ELECTION/REGISTRAR 51 SALARIES 011621 511000 S & W 3,805.10 4,569.00 4,569.00 2,953.40 4,569.00 4,569.00 .0% 011621 512000 PT S&W 80,587.83 55,000.00 55,000.00 30,562.40 55,000.00 55,000.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 84,392.93 59,569.00 59,569.00 33,515.80 59,569.00 59,569.00 .0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011622 521000 PRINTING 16,966.64 13,000.00 13,000.00 27,951.88 13,000.00 13,000.00 .0% 011622 521500 POSTAGE 8,101.83 11,000.00 11,000.00 8,623.77 11,000.00 11,000.00 .0% 011622 525102 EQUIPMAINT 15,864.50 16,000.00 16,000.00 14,642.06 20,000.00 16,000.00 .0% 011622 529000 PROF SERV 8,089.46 10,000.00 10,000.00 2,173.65 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 49,022.43 50,000.00 50,000.00 53,391.36 54,000.00 50,000.00 .0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 011622 530506 ELEC SUPP 1,377.55 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,795.41 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 1,377.55 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,795.41 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011622 540500 DUES/MEMB 25.00 200.00 200.00 .00 200.00 200.00 .0% 011622 540600 EDUC/SEMIN .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 25.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 .00 1,200.00 1,200.00 .0% TOTAL ELECTION/REGISTRAR 134,817.91 113,769.00 113,769.00 89,702.57 117,769.00 113,769.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 10 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 165 LIQUOR COMMISSION 52 CONTRACTUAL 011652 529000 PROF SERV 387.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 011652 529027 COMPLIANCE .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 387.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 .00 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% TOTAL LIQUOR COMMISSION 387.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 .00 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 11 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 175 PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOP 51 SALARIES 011751 511000 S & W 375,298.16 374,802.00 374,802.00 324,105.56 374,802.00 385,654.00 2.9% TOTAL SALARIES 375,298.16 374,802.00 374,802.00 324,105.56 374,802.00 385,654.00 2.9% 52 CONTRACTUAL 011752 520500 ADVERTISE 880.00 880.00 880.00 399.00 880.00 880.00 .0% 011752 521000 PRINTING 1,280.00 1,280.00 1,280.00 555.34 1,280.00 1,280.00 .0% 011752 528810 CONSERV 9,053.42 14,000.00 14,000.00 4,946.58 18,946.58 14,000.00 .0% 011752 529000 PROF SERV 471.78 .00 .00 .00 .00 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 11,685.20 16,160.00 16,160.00 5,900.92 21,106.58 18,660.00 15.5% 54 OTHER CHARGES 011752 540000 ENERGY 3,000.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 011752 540500 DUES/MEMB 1,654.40 1,925.00 1,925.00 1,719.80 1,925.00 1,925.00 .0% 011752 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 2,400.67 2,455.00 2,455.00 1,275.28 2,455.00 2,455.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 7,055.07 6,880.00 6,880.00 2,995.08 4,380.00 4,380.00 -36.3% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 011752 551080 CONSULT .00 .00 .00 60,000.00 .00 .00 .0% 01175772 551072 CONTR SVCS 25,000.00 .00 .00 100,000.00 100,000.00 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 25,000.00 .00 .00 160,000.00 100,000.00 .00 .0% TOTAL PLANNING & COMMUNITY D 419,038.43 397,842.00 397,842.00 493,001.56 500,288.58 408,694.00 2.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 12 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 211 POLICE 51 SALARIES 012111 511000 S & W 5,101,716.77 5,182,115.00 5,336,191.00 4,402,182.37 5,182,115.00 5,670,660.00 6.3% 012111 513000 OVERTIME 623,440.40 457,900.00 457,900.00 361,766.42 457,900.00 457,900.00 .0% 012111 513010 OT TRAININ 164,869.56 125,000.00 125,000.00 188,677.64 125,000.00 150,000.00 20.0% 012111 514000 COURT TIME 17,503.10 26,000.00 26,000.00 15,109.48 26,000.00 26,000.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 5,907,529.83 5,791,015.00 5,945,091.00 4,967,735.91 5,791,015.00 6,304,560.00 6.0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 012112 521000 PRINTING 1,942.12 2,540.00 2,540.00 1,099.75 2,560.00 2,540.00 .0% 012112 521500 POSTAGE 814.60 3,750.00 3,750.00 3,397.33 3,750.00 3,750.00 .0% 012112 523500 LAUNDRY 802.50 800.00 800.00 653.40 925.00 800.00 .0% 012112 525103 LEAPS 839.50 1,240.00 1,240.00 839.50 1,240.00 1,240.00 .0% 012112 525108 GENERATOR .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 012112 525202 COMP SUPP 48,145.30 60,000.00 60,000.00 47,515.72 60,000.00 67,785.00 13.0% 012112 527305 RADIO SYS 22,555.74 20,000.00 20,000.00 18,080.03 20,000.00 20,000.00 .0% 012112 529000 PROF SERV 10,540.16 10,000.00 10,000.00 9,040.65 10,025.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 85,639.92 98,330.00 98,330.00 80,626.38 98,500.00 106,115.00 7.9% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 012112 530120 COMP MISC 281.20 2,500.00 2,500.00 344.87 2,500.00 2,500.00 .0% 012112 530202 FILM SUP 617.98 590.00 590.00 547.11 590.00 590.00 .0% 012112 530501 MISC SUP 3,406.25 2,969.00 2,969.00 848.33 3,033.46 6,000.00 102.1% 012112 530505 RADAR 1,316.40 5,000.00 5,000.00 .00 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 012112 533400 ACCREDIT 3,220.00 3,900.00 3,900.00 .00 3,900.00 .00 -100.0% 012112 534200 BOOKS 493.44 800.00 800.00 356.00 800.00 800.00 .0% 012112 535400 FOOD 233.39 500.00 500.00 201.37 500.00 500.00 .0% 012112 535500 UNIFORMS 97,581.11 73,000.00 73,000.00 60,738.36 73,400.00 73,000.00 .0% 012112 535600 NARCAN 2,023.12 2,500.00 2,500.00 794.46 2,500.00 2,500.00 .0% 012112 535700 AMMUNITION 15,150.58 12,500.00 12,500.00 2,141.14 12,500.00 12,500.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 124,323.47 104,259.00 104,259.00 65,971.64 104,723.46 103,390.00 -.8% 54 OTHER CHARGES 012112 540000 COM ENGAGE 9,699.77 10,000.00 10,000.00 8,302.15 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% 012112 540007 RECRUIT .00 .00 46,134.00 46,134.00 .00 46,134.00 .0% 012112 540500 DUES/MEMB 12,820.08 13,500.00 13,500.00 12,365.00 13,500.00 14,000.00 3.7% 012112 540702 TRAINING 24,511.80 20,000.00 20,000.00 15,124.24 20,794.00 20,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 47,031.65 43,500.00 89,634.00 81,925.39 44,294.00 90,134.00 .6% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 012113 551049 POL VEHICL .00 .00 .00 90,000.00 .00 .00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 13 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 012113 551100 POL EVIDEN .00 .00 .00 16,000.00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY .00 .00 .00 106,000.00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL POLICE 6,164,524.87 6,037,104.00 6,237,314.00 5,302,259.32 6,038,532.46 6,604,199.00 5.9% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 14 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 221 FIRE 51 SALARIES 012211 511000 S & W 4,877,556.39 5,201,301.00 5,201,301.00 4,501,854.16 5,201,301.00 5,328,184.00 2.4% 012211 513000 OVERTIME 1,635,358.72 489,300.00 489,300.00 719,982.70 489,300.00 513,500.00 4.9% 012211 513010 OT TRAININ 12,012.88 11,500.00 11,500.00 12,253.40 11,500.00 11,500.00 .0% 012211 515000 MUTUAL AID .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 6,524,927.99 5,702,101.00 5,702,101.00 5,234,090.26 5,702,101.00 5,853,184.00 2.6% 52 CONTRACTUAL 012212 521000 PRINTING 173.10 250.00 250.00 45.50 250.00 250.00 .0% 012212 527311 LIFE/SAFET 14,210.75 10,900.00 10,900.00 6,546.18 11,946.00 15,000.00 37.6% 012212 527500 VEHICLEREP 128,317.88 80,000.00 80,000.00 65,446.51 80,000.00 100,000.00 25.0% 012212 527605 FIRE CONTR 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 012212 527606 RADIO CONT 9,279.25 10,000.00 10,000.00 1,014.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% 012212 529000 PROF SERV 39,328.14 50,000.00 50,000.00 43,360.12 55,000.00 40,000.00 -20.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 196,309.12 156,150.00 156,150.00 121,412.31 162,196.00 170,250.00 9.0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 012212 530100 COMP PURCH 1,070.73 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 012212 530503 PREVENTSUP 3,651.75 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,380.20 3,000.00 4,000.00 33.3% 012212 530514 EMS SPLY .00 25,000.00 25,000.00 7,840.45 25,000.00 10,000.00 -60.0% 012212 531000 GAS & OIL .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 012212 531200 TIRES 766.73 4,500.00 4,500.00 4,500.00 4,500.00 4,500.00 .0% 012212 531500 BATTERIES 670.06 750.00 750.00 469.73 750.00 2,000.00 166.7% 012212 532000 CLEAN SUP 8,469.80 7,000.00 7,000.00 7,234.95 7,000.00 7,500.00 7.1% 012212 533200 ELECTR SUP 2,199.26 1,000.00 1,000.00 242.81 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 012212 533300 ALARM SYS 1,804.35 4,000.00 4,000.00 964.18 4,000.00 4,000.00 .0% 012212 533500 TOOLS 2,792.91 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,316.22 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 012212 534200 BOOKS 549.21 2,000.00 2,000.00 157.25 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% 012212 535500 UNIFORMS 50,883.00 52,100.00 52,100.00 49,423.00 52,100.00 52,100.00 .0% 012212 535501 CLOTHING .00 500.00 500.00 .00 500.00 500.00 .0% 012212 535502 PROTECT CL 2,252.00 2,400.00 2,400.00 2,743.00 2,400.00 2,400.00 .0% 012212 535505 TURNOUT 52,034.48 .00 .00 75,000.00 75,000.00 .00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 127,144.28 105,250.00 105,250.00 153,271.79 180,250.00 93,000.00 -11.6% 54 OTHER CHARGES 012212 540500 DUES/MEMB 1,100.00 1,100.00 1,100.00 1,100.00 1,100.00 1,100.00 .0% 012212 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 911.21 1,500.00 1,500.00 1,106.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 15 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 2,011.21 2,600.00 2,600.00 2,206.00 2,600.00 2,600.00 .0% 56 MISCELLANEOUS 012212 560200 ED REIMB 24,972.83 20,000.00 20,000.00 9,009.78 20,000.00 20,000.00 .0% 012212 568000 FIRE HOSE 2,923.99 3,700.00 3,700.00 2,798.61 3,700.00 3,700.00 .0% TOTAL MISCELLANEOUS 27,896.82 23,700.00 23,700.00 11,808.39 23,700.00 23,700.00 .0% TOTAL FIRE 6,878,289.42 5,989,801.00 5,989,801.00 5,522,788.75 6,070,847.00 6,142,734.00 2.6% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 16 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 241 INSPECTION SERVICES 51 SALARIES 012411 511000 S & W 384,056.48 406,890.00 406,890.00 341,880.37 406,890.00 416,970.00 2.5% 012411 513000 OVERTIME 783.52 1,900.00 1,900.00 638.56 1,900.00 1,900.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 384,840.00 408,790.00 408,790.00 342,518.93 408,790.00 418,870.00 2.5% 52 CONTRACTUAL 012412 521000 PRINTING 43.10 325.00 325.00 250.00 325.00 400.00 23.1% 012412 529000 PROF SERV 10,356.90 10,000.00 10,000.00 4,903.20 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 10,400.00 10,325.00 10,325.00 5,153.20 10,325.00 10,400.00 .7% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 012412 530502 W & M SUP .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 780.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 50.0% 012412 534200 BOOKS 396.00 750.00 750.00 .00 750.00 1,000.00 33.3% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 396.00 1,750.00 1,750.00 780.00 1,750.00 2,500.00 42.9% 54 OTHER CHARGES 012412 540500 DUES/MEMB 790.00 500.00 500.00 1,488.00 500.00 500.00 .0% 012412 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 904.00 1,300.00 1,300.00 280.00 1,300.00 2,600.00 100.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,694.00 1,800.00 1,800.00 1,768.00 1,800.00 3,100.00 72.2% TOTAL INSPECTION SERVICES 397,330.00 422,665.00 422,665.00 350,220.13 422,665.00 434,870.00 2.9% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 17 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 291 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 51 SALARIES 012911 511000 S & W 28,080.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 8,653.95 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 28,080.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 8,653.95 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 012912 530703 RADIO 391.28 .00 .00 970.00 970.00 .00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 391.28 .00 .00 970.00 970.00 .00 .0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 012912 540000 OTH CHGEXP 810.83 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 810.83 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 29,282.11 10,000.00 10,000.00 9,623.95 10,970.00 10,000.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 18 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 296 PARKING 51 SALARIES 012961 511000 S & W 15,483.00 15,931.00 15,931.00 13,668.04 15,931.00 16,333.00 2.5% TOTAL SALARIES 15,483.00 15,931.00 15,931.00 13,668.04 15,931.00 16,333.00 2.5% 52 CONTRACTUAL 012962 521000 PRINTING 5,031.50 6,750.00 6,750.00 1,009.50 6,750.00 6,750.00 .0% 012962 527950 GROV/MYRTL 34,999.92 35,000.00 35,000.00 35,000.00 35,000.00 35,000.00 .0% 012962 529000 PROF SERV 12,809.89 12,000.00 12,000.00 9,947.05 12,040.65 14,000.00 16.7% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 52,841.31 53,750.00 53,750.00 45,956.55 53,790.65 55,750.00 3.7% TOTAL PARKING 68,324.31 69,681.00 69,681.00 59,624.59 69,721.65 72,083.00 3.4% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 19 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 300 SCHOOL 51 SALARIES 013001 511000 S & W .00 42,523,875.00 46,342,675.00 .00 42,523,875.00 49,332,180.00 6.5% TOTAL SALARIES .00 42,523,875.00 46,342,675.00 .00 42,523,875.00 49,332,180.00 6.5% TOTAL SCHOOL .00 42,523,875.00 46,342,675.00 .00 42,523,875.00 49,332,180.00 6.5% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 20 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 399 REGIONAL SCHOOL ASSESSMENT 54 OTHER CHARGES 013012 547100 REGION SCH 1,619,030.00 1,951,636.00 1,951,636.00 1,951,636.00 1,951,636.00 2,066,354.00 5.9% 013012 547200 MINUTEMAN 27,426.18 28,201.00 28,201.00 28,200.18 28,201.00 29,231.00 3.7% 013012 547300 ESSEX AGRI 184,459.00 191,310.00 191,310.00 141,961.00 191,310.00 193,731.00 1.3% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,830,915.18 2,171,147.00 2,171,147.00 2,121,797.18 2,171,147.00 2,289,316.00 5.4% TOTAL REGIONAL SCHOOL ASSESS 1,830,915.18 2,171,147.00 2,171,147.00 2,121,797.18 2,171,147.00 2,289,316.00 5.4% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 21 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 401 PW ADMINISTRATION/ ENGINEERING 51 SALARIES 014011 511000 S & W 776,408.34 694,535.00 806,239.00 608,324.48 694,535.00 831,489.00 3.1% 014011 512000 PT S&W 20,361.50 .00 21,000.00 6,330.00 .00 21,000.00 .0% 014011 513000 OVERTIME 1,178.00 4,000.00 7,905.00 12,070.40 4,000.00 7,905.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 797,947.84 698,535.00 835,144.00 626,724.88 698,535.00 860,394.00 3.0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014012 520500 ADVERTIS 4,881.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 11,075.60 4,000.00 4,000.00 .0% 014012 521000 PRINTING 82.02 4,500.00 4,500.00 .00 4,500.00 4,500.00 .0% 014012 521500 POSTAGE 694.01 4,250.00 4,250.00 1,371.40 4,250.00 4,250.00 .0% 014012 529000 PROF SERV 38,133.81 45,000.00 45,000.00 120,186.83 136,731.76 45,000.00 .0% 014012 529304 WELLNESS 210.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 2,192.50 1,500.00 1,500.00 .0% 014012 529500 GIS SERVIC 4,590.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 .00 10,000.00 6,000.00 .0% 01401772 529025 SCH OUTRCH .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 3,500.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 48,590.84 65,250.00 65,250.00 134,826.33 160,981.76 68,750.00 5.4% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014012 533502 PROF TOOLS 4,720.61 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,672.45 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 014012 533503 OPER TOOLS 1,464.09 6,000.00 6,000.00 4,562.60 6,000.00 6,000.00 .0% 014012 535501 CLOTHING 25,993.26 28,000.00 28,000.00 30,739.74 28,000.00 39,015.00 39.3% 014012 535509 SAFE EQUIP 548.49 8,000.00 8,000.00 .00 8,000.00 8,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 32,726.45 47,000.00 47,000.00 40,974.79 47,000.00 58,015.00 23.4% 54 OTHER CHARGES 014012 540704 PROF DEVEL 8,595.89 12,000.00 12,000.00 3,888.75 12,000.00 15,000.00 25.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 8,595.89 12,000.00 12,000.00 3,888.75 12,000.00 15,000.00 25.0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 014012 551046 SOFT LIC 17,526.36 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 014012 551072 STWRSTUDY .00 .00 .00 25,000.00 .00 .00 .0% 014012 551073 ELLPOND .00 .00 .00 80,000.00 .00 .00 .0% 014012 551184 ACCESS 3,871.00 .00 .00 71,129.00 71,129.00 .00 .0% 014012 551194 SUMMER .00 .00 .00 205,147.50 .00 .00 .0% 014012 551195 LEB&SYLVAN .00 .00 .00 175,000.00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 21,397.36 .00 .00 556,276.50 71,129.00 .00 .0% TOTAL PW ADMINISTRATION/ ENG 909,258.38 822,785.00 959,394.00 1,362,691.25 989,645.76 1,002,159.00 4.5% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 22 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 402 PW FACILITY MAINTENANCE 51 SALARIES 014021 511000 S & W 135,792.56 128,870.00 128,870.00 120,685.86 128,870.00 208,254.00 61.6% 014021 512004 INTERNS 66,682.50 .00 69,120.00 3,495.00 .00 69,120.00 .0% 014021 513000 OVERTIME 15,143.08 15,461.00 15,461.00 13,751.65 15,461.00 15,461.00 .0% 01402531 512002 LIBR PART 15,012.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 14,556.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 .0% 01402771 511041 SAL CUSTOD 844,902.46 877,783.00 877,783.00 709,894.43 877,783.00 823,767.00 -6.2% 01402771 511042 SAL MAINT 364,951.37 382,744.00 437,093.00 320,856.94 382,744.00 443,980.00 1.6% 01402771 512003 SCH PART 24,580.91 25,000.00 25,000.00 22,065.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 .0% 01402771 513000 OT SCH BLD 91,842.27 60,000.00 78,329.00 56,439.13 60,000.00 78,329.00 .0% 01402771 513008 OT F GREEN 45,929.85 7,960.00 7,960.00 31,212.40 7,960.00 30,000.00 276.9% TOTAL SALARIES 1,604,837.00 1,522,818.00 1,664,616.00 1,292,956.41 1,522,818.00 1,718,911.00 3.3% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014022 522525 ESCO PROJ 230,456.94 237,941.00 237,941.00 237,940.64 237,941.00 245,649.00 3.2% 014022 522526 ESCO QC 8,117.22 16,621.00 16,621.00 11,882.78 28,503.78 16,621.00 .0% 014022 527700 MUNBLD REP 74,642.58 120,000.00 120,000.00 139,692.49 120,000.00 620,000.00 416.7% 014022 527759 MUN MAJ CL 6,907.73 30,000.00 30,000.00 7,500.00 30,092.27 30,000.00 .0% 014022 529000 PROF SERV 20,000.00 20,000.00 20,000.00 500.00 20,000.00 20,000.00 .0% 01402502 522506 CH ELECTR 42,999.30 55,620.00 55,620.00 33,950.13 55,620.00 55,620.00 .0% 01402502 522611 CH HEAT 17,166.53 18,700.00 18,700.00 16,855.16 18,700.00 18,700.00 .0% 01402512 522507 STR LIGHTS 125,403.26 168,000.00 168,000.00 128,424.51 168,000.00 168,000.00 .0% 01402522 522509 COA ELECT 8,416.10 6,800.00 6,800.00 11,670.75 6,800.00 6,800.00 .0% 01402522 522613 COA HEAT 2,326.90 4,910.00 4,910.00 2,525.24 4,910.00 4,910.00 .0% 01402532 522510 LIBRARY EL 20,041.96 60,000.00 60,000.00 82,150.61 60,000.00 110,000.00 83.3% 01402532 522614 LIBR HEAT 6,388.30 .00 .00 904.17 .00 .00 .0% 01402542 522511 POLICE ELE 20,736.58 22,200.00 22,200.00 6,900.28 22,200.00 22,200.00 .0% 01402542 522615 POL HEAT 9,669.53 7,500.00 7,500.00 10,542.47 7,500.00 7,500.00 .0% 01402552 522512 FIRE ELEC 34,494.67 33,300.00 33,300.00 36,057.45 33,300.00 33,300.00 .0% 01402552 522616 FIRE HEAT 19,362.11 20,000.00 20,000.00 23,043.44 23,013.89 20,000.00 .0% 01402582 522515 PARK ELECT 31,940.47 31,800.00 31,800.00 25,642.61 31,800.00 31,800.00 .0% 01402592 522516 CEM ELECT 3,928.34 6,900.00 6,900.00 3,029.99 6,900.00 6,900.00 .0% 01402592 522619 CEM HEAT 4,393.59 4,250.00 4,250.00 4,497.98 4,250.00 4,250.00 .0% 01402602 522508 OPER ELECT 18,184.95 49,440.00 49,440.00 23,647.96 49,440.00 49,440.00 .0% 01402602 522612 OPER HEAT 34,707.26 39,000.00 39,000.00 54,932.72 39,000.00 39,000.00 .0% 01402772 522524 SCH ELECT 959,078.87 840,000.00 840,000.00 877,387.81 840,000.00 860,000.00 2.4% 01402772 522627 SCH HEAT 312,470.71 267,800.00 267,800.00 490,474.18 267,929.44 300,000.00 12.0% 01402772 527550 SCH CLEAN 152,839.39 236,900.00 236,900.00 29,958.81 237,224.09 236,900.00 .0% 01402772 527551 SCH GROUND .00 25,000.00 25,000.00 .00 25,000.00 25,000.00 .0% 01402772 527552 SCH EQUIP 149,535.44 77,250.00 77,250.00 79,029.03 98,702.46 77,250.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 23 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 01402772 527553 SCH SYSTEM 9,608.50 21,800.00 21,800.00 14,640.14 28,946.77 21,800.00 .0% 01402772 527554 SCH DOOR 12,885.64 5,000.00 5,000.00 276.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 01402772 527555 SCHOOL SEC 7,601.58 10,000.00 10,000.00 6,105.88 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 2,344,304.45 2,436,732.00 2,436,732.00 2,360,163.23 2,480,773.70 3,046,640.00 25.0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014022 533100 CLEAN SUP 8,815.14 20,000.00 20,000.00 24,097.47 23,975.50 20,000.00 .0% 014022 533107 CLEAN EQUI 13,412.99 13,750.00 13,750.00 3,915.00 13,750.00 13,750.00 .0% 01402772 531825 SCH CONTR 470,010.74 437,750.00 437,750.00 347,432.11 464,006.00 437,750.00 .0% 01402772 533115 SC CUSTOD 78,790.50 146,000.00 146,000.00 136,769.04 146,000.00 146,000.00 .0% 01402772 533116 SCH MAINT 113,373.28 98,000.00 98,000.00 104,129.93 98,000.00 98,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 684,402.65 715,500.00 715,500.00 616,343.55 745,731.50 715,500.00 .0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 014023 551094 REPAIR .00 .00 40,000.00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 01402772 551191 ASBESTOS 75,000.00 .00 .00 100,000.00 .00 100,000.00 .0% 01402773 551172 SCHOOL REP 3,711.25 .00 4,345,052.00 3,847,983.53 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 78,711.25 .00 4,385,052.00 3,947,983.53 .00 100,000.00 -97.7% TOTAL PW FACILITY MAINTENANC 4,712,255.35 4,675,050.00 9,201,900.00 8,217,446.72 4,749,323.20 5,581,051.00 -39.3% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 24 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 422 PUBLIC WORKS HIGHWAY 51 SALARIES 014221 511000 S & W 277,736.26 297,292.00 297,292.00 252,037.18 297,292.00 393,738.00 32.4% 014221 512004 INTERNS 4,000.00 .00 4,800.00 .00 .00 4,800.00 .0% 014221 513000 OVERTIME 26,544.21 27,973.00 33,737.00 16,519.78 27,973.00 33,737.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 308,280.47 325,265.00 335,829.00 268,556.96 325,265.00 432,275.00 28.7% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014222 520200 TRAF SIG 12,568.86 17,000.00 17,000.00 10,000.00 21,000.00 17,000.00 .0% 014222 520450 LIGHT MAIN 20,273.91 15,000.00 15,000.00 20,000.00 15,000.00 21,400.00 42.7% 014222 524000 HIRE EQUIP 27,104.46 27,500.00 27,500.00 22,849.53 29,470.00 27,500.00 .0% 014222 526900 TRAF MRKNG 58,073.29 50,000.00 60,000.00 30,000.00 50,000.00 60,000.00 .0% 014222 527100 CATCH BSN 30,000.00 30,000.00 30,000.00 30,000.00 30,000.00 30,000.00 .0% 014222 527101 NPDES DRAI 39,130.37 62,000.00 62,000.00 68,895.00 127,386.50 62,000.00 .0% 014222 527102 DRAINMAINT 560.00 20,000.00 20,000.00 49,115.00 68,415.00 20,000.00 .0% 014222 527105 MS4 27,543.84 44,725.00 44,725.00 27,787.84 58,077.84 44,725.00 .0% 014222 527307 SIDEWK REP 27,587.03 20,100.00 20,100.00 38,149.00 55,210.00 20,100.00 .0% 014222 529012 ST SWEEP 52,208.85 55,000.00 55,000.00 52,000.00 55,000.00 96,000.00 74.5% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 295,050.61 341,325.00 351,325.00 348,796.37 509,559.34 398,725.00 13.5% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014222 533000 PAINTS 6,604.45 8,266.00 8,266.00 5,461.00 8,266.00 8,266.00 .0% 014222 533504 BARRICADE 379.61 .00 .00 .00 1,720.39 2,100.00 .0% 014222 535800 BUT PATCH 35,319.30 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 44,000.00 10.0% 014222 536000 CEM&CONCR 1,500.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 81.89 2,500.00 2,500.00 .0% 014222 536210 ROAD STRUC 4,255.99 7,560.00 7,560.00 3,760.00 7,560.00 7,560.00 .0% 014222 537200 LUMBER 1,000.00 2,400.00 2,400.00 800.00 2,800.00 2,400.00 .0% 014222 538000 SIGN MAT 15,260.47 10,000.00 10,000.00 9,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 64,319.82 70,726.00 70,726.00 59,102.89 72,846.39 76,826.00 8.6% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 014222 551183 TRAFCALM 14,679.75 .00 50,000.00 124,115.85 110,320.25 50,000.00 .0% 014223 551101 ROADS .00 .00 600,000.00 180,000.00 .00 600,000.00 .0% 014223 551165 DRAIN 40,914.67 .00 330,000.00 39,085.34 39,085.34 330,000.00 .0% 014223 551190 SIDEWALK 23,436.20 .00 250,000.00 66,563.80 66,563.80 250,000.00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 79,030.62 .00 1,230,000.00 409,764.99 215,969.39 1,230,000.00 .0% TOTAL PUBLIC WORKS HIGHWAY 746,681.52 737,316.00 1,987,880.00 1,086,221.21 1,123,640.12 2,137,826.00 7.5% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 25 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 423 PUBLIC WORKS SNOW REMOVAL 51 SALARIES 014231 513000 OVERTIME 217,462.29 144,125.00 144,125.00 347,787.75 144,125.00 200,000.00 38.8% TOTAL SALARIES 217,462.29 144,125.00 144,125.00 347,787.75 144,125.00 200,000.00 38.8% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014232 524000 HIRE EQUIP 195,196.46 273,700.00 273,700.00 544,915.83 273,700.00 274,700.00 .4% 014232 529015 YOUTH SNOW .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 014232 529220 WEATHER 2,794.40 2,300.00 2,300.00 2,954.38 2,300.00 2,300.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 197,990.86 276,000.00 276,000.00 547,870.21 276,000.00 277,000.00 .4% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014232 531000 GAS&OIL 55,020.41 15,000.00 15,000.00 60,318.15 15,000.00 15,000.00 .0% 014232 531201 TIRE CHAIN 7,165.05 2,000.00 2,000.00 5,524.44 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% 014232 531203 PLOW PARTS 42,773.09 30,000.00 30,000.00 104,338.92 30,000.00 30,000.00 .0% 014232 531800 PARTS&REP 71,949.16 35,000.00 35,000.00 94,801.58 35,000.00 35,000.00 .0% 014232 533500 TOOLS 12,114.18 2,000.00 2,000.00 16,718.70 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% 014232 534900 SALT 370,524.54 237,000.00 237,000.00 428,751.15 237,000.00 237,000.00 .0% 014232 535000 SAND&GRAVE .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 014232 535401 SNOW MEALS .00 2,000.00 2,000.00 1,945.37 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 559,546.43 323,000.00 323,000.00 712,398.31 323,000.00 323,000.00 .0% TOTAL PUBLIC WORKS SNOW REMO 974,999.58 743,125.00 743,125.00 1,608,056.27 743,125.00 800,000.00 7.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 26 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 433 PUBLIC WORKS SOLID WASTE/SANI 51 SALARIES 014331 511000 S & W 126,651.12 138,355.00 138,355.00 110,630.25 138,355.00 130,981.00 -5.3% 014331 512000 PT S&W 6,225.00 5,000.00 7,500.00 .00 5,000.00 7,500.00 .0% 014331 513000 OVERTIME 60,804.92 38,300.00 58,000.00 37,217.99 38,300.00 58,000.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 193,681.04 181,655.00 203,855.00 147,848.24 181,655.00 196,481.00 -3.6% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014332 524000 HIRE EQUIP 45,583.47 40,000.00 40,000.00 39,451.40 40,000.00 50,000.00 25.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 45,583.47 40,000.00 40,000.00 39,451.40 40,000.00 50,000.00 25.0% TOTAL PUBLIC WORKS SOLID WAS 239,264.51 221,655.00 243,855.00 187,299.64 221,655.00 246,481.00 1.1% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 27 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 475 PW PARK & FORESTRY 51 SALARIES 014751 511000 S & W 579,655.22 641,092.00 607,911.00 467,618.95 607,911.00 581,699.00 -4.3% 014751 512000 PT S&W 16,120.00 .00 24,000.00 .00 .00 24,000.00 .0% 014751 513000 OVERTIME 56,894.27 40,375.00 55,900.00 38,433.06 40,375.00 55,900.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 652,669.49 681,467.00 687,811.00 506,052.01 648,286.00 661,599.00 -3.8% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014752 524006 FRST HIRED 20,960.00 21,500.00 154,681.00 69,278.20 54,681.00 100,000.00 -35.4% 014752 524007 PARK HIRED 27,230.20 30,000.00 30,000.00 17,270.39 31,230.20 30,000.00 .0% 014752 527400 IRRIG REP 12,000.00 12,000.00 12,000.00 8,000.00 12,000.00 12,000.00 .0% 014752 527806 PLYGRND RE 1,474.44 6,500.00 26,500.00 13,679.52 11,239.08 26,500.00 .0% 014752 528805 MOW&MAINT 51,260.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 57,421.00 70,690.00 68,000.00 36.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 112,924.64 120,000.00 273,181.00 165,649.11 179,840.28 236,500.00 -13.4% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014752 531826 EQUIP PART 7,459.00 6,500.00 6,500.00 3,000.00 6,500.00 6,500.00 .0% 014752 533050 FLD MRKNG 6,638.82 7,500.00 7,500.00 6,763.15 7,500.00 7,500.00 .0% 014752 533505 LAND EQUIP 5,224.93 6,500.00 6,500.00 3,062.50 8,269.80 6,500.00 .0% 014752 535200 LANDSC SUP 43,438.62 50,000.00 55,000.00 32,188.82 50,000.00 55,000.00 .0% 014752 537300 FENCE MAT 420.35 4,200.00 4,200.00 1,500.00 5,279.65 4,200.00 .0% 014752 537610 BEN&BARR .00 4,200.00 4,200.00 5,183.12 8,187.73 4,200.00 .0% 014752 537640 ADOPTASITE 5,000.00 .00 5,000.00 .00 .00 5,000.00 .0% 014752 537641 FLOWERVET .00 .00 .00 8,000.00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 68,181.72 78,900.00 88,900.00 59,697.59 85,737.18 88,900.00 .0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 014752 551182 TREES 34,859.00 .00 100,000.00 141,363.15 41,363.15 100,000.00 .0% 014753 551168 PARKS 75,776.45 .00 536,000.00 283,791.55 283,791.55 .00 .0% 014753 551169 COURTUPGRA 7,694.15 .00 125,000.00 13,537.75 437.75 .00 .0% 014753 551177 FIELD .00 .00 352,300.00 33,000.00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 118,329.60 .00 1,113,300.00 471,692.45 325,592.45 100,000.00 -91.0% TOTAL PW PARK & FORESTRY 952,105.45 880,367.00 2,163,192.00 1,203,091.16 1,239,455.91 1,086,999.00 -49.8% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 28 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 485 PW AUTOMOTIVE 51 SALARIES 014851 511000 S & W 167,223.01 155,827.00 212,951.00 125,826.73 155,827.00 150,368.00 -29.4% 014851 513000 OVERTIME 11,414.77 6,160.00 6,160.00 5,918.35 6,160.00 6,160.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 178,637.78 161,987.00 219,111.00 131,745.08 161,987.00 156,528.00 -28.6% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014852 531000 GAS & OIL 30,589.49 120,000.00 120,000.00 97,677.29 120,000.00 140,000.00 16.7% 014852 531200 TIRES 2,304.18 15,000.00 15,000.00 10,000.00 15,000.00 21,775.00 45.2% 014852 531204 POL TIRES 3,000.00 3,308.00 3,308.00 2,500.00 3,308.00 3,308.00 .0% 014852 531205 WELD SUPP 1,639.05 2,040.00 2,040.00 1,500.00 2,040.00 2,040.00 .0% 014852 531500 BATTERIES 1,500.00 4,245.00 4,245.00 .00 4,245.00 4,245.00 .0% 014852 531800 PARTS&REP 93,282.06 98,313.00 98,313.00 122,363.76 102,609.26 98,313.00 .0% 014852 531824 EVCHARGIN .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 15,000.00 .0% 014852 532000 CLEAN&DISF 2,413.00 3,360.00 3,360.00 3,020.00 3,360.00 3,360.00 .0% 014852 533500 TOOLS 2,961.82 4,500.00 4,500.00 2,047.64 4,500.00 4,500.00 .0% 01485542 531804 POL MV RP 13,077.91 20,000.00 20,000.00 30,678.94 27,660.96 25,650.00 28.3% 01485772 531814 ALL SCH MV 4,517.38 8,400.00 8,400.00 1,200.00 8,400.00 8,400.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 155,284.89 279,166.00 279,166.00 270,987.63 291,123.22 326,591.00 17.0% TOTAL PW AUTOMOTIVE 333,922.67 441,153.00 498,277.00 402,732.71 453,110.22 483,119.00 -3.0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 29 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 491 CEMETERY 51 SALARIES 014911 511000 S & W 166,192.07 146,694.00 208,038.00 141,307.65 146,694.00 294,494.00 41.6% 014911 512000 PT S&W 21,096.54 15,000.00 24,580.00 4,266.86 15,000.00 24,650.00 .3% 014911 513000 OVERTIME 16,654.08 15,400.00 15,400.00 22,616.47 15,400.00 15,400.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES 203,942.69 177,094.00 248,018.00 168,190.98 177,094.00 334,544.00 34.9% 52 CONTRACTUAL 014912 524000 HIRE EQUIP 5,593.10 3,000.00 3,000.00 .00 3,000.00 4,800.00 60.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 5,593.10 3,000.00 3,000.00 .00 3,000.00 4,800.00 60.0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 014912 530704 CEM MARK .00 2,500.00 2,500.00 .00 2,500.00 2,500.00 .0% 014912 531205 WELD SUPP 201.55 850.00 850.00 500.00 850.00 850.00 .0% 014912 532000 CLEAN&DISF .00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 900.00 80.0% 014912 535200 LANDSC SUP 12,397.95 12,000.00 12,000.00 8,327.31 12,869.00 16,700.00 39.2% 014912 536000 CEM&CONCR .00 1,000.00 1,000.00 .00 1,000.00 4,500.00 350.0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 12,599.50 16,850.00 16,850.00 9,327.31 17,719.00 25,450.00 51.0% TOTAL CEMETERY 222,135.29 196,944.00 267,868.00 177,518.29 197,813.00 364,794.00 36.2% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 30 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 511 HEALTH 51 SALARIES 015111 511000 S & W 539,988.88 539,369.00 539,369.00 468,470.96 539,369.00 634,428.00 17.6% 015111 513000 OVERTIME .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 25,000.00 .0% 01511771 511000 S&W SCHOOL 712,986.88 747,047.00 747,047.00 545,224.37 747,047.00 842,326.00 12.8% TOTAL SALARIES 1,252,975.76 1,286,416.00 1,286,416.00 1,013,695.33 1,286,416.00 1,501,754.00 16.7% 52 CONTRACTUAL 015112 520500 ADVERTISE .00 250.00 250.00 .00 250.00 250.00 .0% 015112 521000 PRINTING 282.37 250.00 250.00 67.42 250.00 250.00 .0% 015112 522711 SHARPS 1,750.00 1,800.00 1,800.00 1,610.00 1,940.00 1,800.00 .0% 015112 523000 MILEAGE 490.43 1,000.00 1,000.00 192.38 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 015112 524500 PEST CONTR 24,893.97 21,500.00 21,500.00 19,853.06 21,500.00 21,500.00 .0% 015112 529000 PROF SERV 380.64 8,000.00 8,000.00 502.00 8,000.00 8,000.00 .0% 015112 529031 ANIM SHELT 3,282.74 4,000.00 4,000.00 200.00 4,000.00 9,000.00 125.0% 01511772 529000 PROF SERV 5,528.69 9,000.00 9,000.00 7,135.50 9,000.00 9,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 36,608.84 45,800.00 45,800.00 29,560.36 45,940.00 50,800.00 10.9% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 015112 530501 MISC SUP 726.23 600.00 600.00 262.44 600.00 600.00 .0% 015112 533500 TOOLS 410.84 600.00 600.00 98.07 600.00 600.00 .0% 01511772 532100 MEDICALSUP 8,667.69 8,900.00 8,900.00 3,732.50 8,900.00 8,900.00 .0% 01511772 535501 CLOTHING 4,000.00 4,400.00 4,400.00 4,000.00 4,400.00 4,800.00 9.1% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 13,804.76 14,500.00 14,500.00 8,093.01 14,500.00 14,900.00 2.8% 54 OTHER CHARGES 015112 540500 DUES/MEMB 905.64 800.00 800.00 1,045.38 800.00 800.00 .0% 015112 540700 SEMINARS 2,520.37 2,500.00 2,500.00 606.16 2,500.00 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 3,426.01 3,300.00 3,300.00 1,651.54 3,300.00 3,300.00 .0% TOTAL HEALTH 1,306,815.37 1,350,016.00 1,350,016.00 1,053,000.24 1,350,156.00 1,570,754.00 16.4% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 31 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 540 BEEBE ESTATE 52 CONTRACTUAL 015402 522505 BEEBE ELEC 2,544.70 1,800.00 1,800.00 2,012.16 1,800.00 1,800.00 .0% 015402 522605 BEEBE GAS 3,369.32 3,900.00 3,900.00 3,998.75 3,900.00 3,900.00 .0% 015402 527700 BLDGREPAIR 749.82 2,000.00 2,000.00 1,044.15 2,000.00 2,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 6,663.84 7,700.00 7,700.00 7,055.06 7,700.00 7,700.00 .0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 015402 530501 MISC SUP .00 200.00 200.00 .00 200.00 200.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL .00 200.00 200.00 .00 200.00 200.00 .0% TOTAL BEEBE ESTATE 6,663.84 7,900.00 7,900.00 7,055.06 7,900.00 7,900.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 32 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 541 COUNCIL ON AGING 51 SALARIES 015411 511000 S & W 285,779.30 260,084.00 260,084.00 223,647.76 260,084.00 294,946.00 13.4% TOTAL SALARIES 285,779.30 260,084.00 260,084.00 223,647.76 260,084.00 294,946.00 13.4% 52 CONTRACTUAL 015412 521000 PRINTING .00 400.00 400.00 400.00 400.00 400.00 .0% 015412 523000 MILEAGE 130.25 50.00 50.00 .00 50.00 100.00 100.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 130.25 450.00 450.00 400.00 450.00 500.00 11.1% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 015412 530501 MISC SUP 1,084.92 1,095.00 1,095.00 1,095.00 1,095.00 2,500.00 128.3% 015412 535500 UNIFORMS 400.00 400.00 400.00 42.00 400.00 500.00 25.0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 1,484.92 1,495.00 1,495.00 1,137.00 1,495.00 3,000.00 100.7% 54 OTHER CHARGES 015412 540500 DUES/MEMB 3,332.00 3,332.00 3,332.00 2,626.56 3,332.00 4,415.00 32.5% 015412 543800 PROGRAM SU .00 .00 40,000.00 11,213.88 .00 2,500.00 -93.8% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 3,332.00 3,332.00 43,332.00 13,840.44 3,332.00 6,915.00 -84.0% TOTAL COUNCIL ON AGING 290,726.47 265,361.00 305,361.00 239,025.20 265,361.00 305,361.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 33 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 542 WOMEN'S COMMISSION 54 OTHER CHARGES 015422 540000 OTH CHGEXP 1,025.52 .00 .00 117.50 117.50 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,025.52 .00 .00 117.50 117.50 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL WOMEN'S COMMISSION 1,025.52 .00 .00 117.50 117.50 2,500.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 34 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 543 VETERANS 51 SALARIES 015431 511000 S & W 179,987.48 74,256.00 74,256.00 63,272.40 74,256.00 76,513.00 3.0% TOTAL SALARIES 179,987.48 74,256.00 74,256.00 63,272.40 74,256.00 76,513.00 3.0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 015432 523000 MILEAGE 246.50 100.00 100.00 492.08 100.00 1,000.00 900.0% 015432 525303 LICENSES 973.04 1,000.00 1,000.00 .00 1,000.00 500.00 -50.0% 015432 527803 WAR MEM 1,947.58 5,000.00 5,000.00 2,594.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 100.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 3,167.12 6,100.00 6,100.00 3,086.08 6,100.00 11,500.00 88.5% 54 OTHER CHARGES 015432 540500 DUES 185.91 250.00 250.00 600.94 250.00 200.00 -20.0% 015432 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 1,721.22 1,000.00 1,000.00 513.28 1,000.00 3,000.00 200.0% 015432 543800 PROGRAM SU .00 .00 30,000.00 5,835.26 .00 .00 .0% 015432 544000 VET BENE 157,806.81 175,000.00 175,000.00 152,151.17 175,000.00 192,650.00 10.1% 015432 544020 EVENTS .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 5,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 159,713.94 176,250.00 206,250.00 159,100.65 176,250.00 200,850.00 -2.6% TOTAL VETERANS 342,868.54 256,606.00 286,606.00 225,459.13 256,606.00 288,863.00 .8% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 35 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 544 HUMAN RIGHTS 54 OTHER CHARGES 015442 540000 OTH CHGEXP .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL HUMAN RIGHTS .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 2,500.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 36 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 545 DISABILITY COMMISSION 54 OTHER CHARGES 015452 540000 OTH CHGEXP 1,461.45 .00 .00 605.44 605.44 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,461.45 .00 .00 605.44 605.44 2,500.00 .0% TOTAL DISABILITY COMMISSION 1,461.45 .00 .00 605.44 605.44 2,500.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 37 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 611 LIBRARY 51 SALARIES 016111 511000 S & W 1,064,612.52 1,052,032.00 1,077,347.00 912,321.30 1,052,032.00 1,170,932.00 8.7% 016111 513000 OVERTIME 12,770.02 12,881.00 12,881.00 8,082.98 12,881.00 14,901.00 15.7% TOTAL SALARIES 1,077,382.54 1,064,913.00 1,090,228.00 920,404.28 1,064,913.00 1,185,833.00 8.8% 52 CONTRACTUAL 016112 521000 PRINTING 461.72 1,000.00 1,000.00 593.29 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 016112 521500 POSTAGE 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,740.19 1,000.00 1,000.00 .0% 016112 523000 MILEAGE 85.93 250.00 250.00 .00 250.00 250.00 .0% 016112 525104 NOBLE 52,780.02 54,372.00 54,372.00 54,372.00 54,372.00 55,869.00 2.8% 016112 527702 CONTRACT 15,937.33 15,235.00 15,235.00 14,515.52 15,235.00 15,235.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 70,265.00 71,857.00 71,857.00 71,221.00 71,857.00 73,354.00 2.1% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 016112 530100 COMP PURCH 1,484.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 492.99 1,500.00 1,500.00 .0% 016112 530500 OFFICE SUP 7,894.07 8,000.00 8,000.00 8,889.63 8,000.00 8,000.00 .0% 016112 534100 AUDIO MAT 1,232.48 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,332.79 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 016112 534150 VIDEO FORM 2,141.78 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,012.86 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 016112 534200 BOOKS 46,810.92 35,000.00 51,550.00 51,550.00 35,000.00 53,000.00 2.8% 016112 534210 ELECTRONIC 1,792.75 2,330.00 2,330.00 2,192.35 2,330.00 2,330.00 .0% 016112 534220 NETWRK ECO 27,225.00 27,225.00 27,225.00 27,225.00 27,225.00 30,155.00 10.8% 016112 534230 DOWNLOAD 22,660.97 20,000.00 20,000.00 19,247.43 20,000.00 20,000.00 .0% 016112 534240 ELECTR DAT 16,581.74 17,800.00 17,800.00 12,370.29 17,800.00 15,000.00 -15.7% 016112 534300 LIB PASSES 2,375.00 2,375.00 2,375.00 2,375.00 2,375.00 2,375.00 .0% 016112 534800 RECRE SUP 1,031.29 1,000.00 1,000.00 944.53 1,000.00 .00 -100.0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 131,230.00 121,230.00 137,780.00 129,632.87 121,230.00 138,360.00 .4% 54 OTHER CHARGES 016112 540500 DUES/MEMB 814.00 300.00 300.00 425.00 300.00 300.00 .0% 016112 540600 EDUC/SEMIN 500.00 500.00 500.00 .00 500.00 500.00 .0% 016112 542700 RECPROGRAM 2,086.00 2,600.00 2,600.00 2,455.00 2,600.00 2,600.00 .0% 016112 543800 PROGRAM SU .00 .00 10,000.00 9,311.05 .00 10,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 3,400.00 3,400.00 13,400.00 12,191.05 3,400.00 13,400.00 .0% TOTAL LIBRARY 1,282,277.54 1,261,400.00 1,313,265.00 1,133,449.20 1,261,400.00 1,410,947.00 7.4% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 38 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 631 RECREATION 51 SALARIES 016311 511000 S & W .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 83,070.00 .0% TOTAL SALARIES .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 83,070.00 .0% TOTAL RECREATION .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 83,070.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 39 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 652 PINE BANKS 51 SALARIES 016521 511000 S & W 229,941.66 266,928.00 266,928.00 214,743.02 266,928.00 271,681.00 1.8% 016521 513000 OVERTIME 3,665.15 5,770.00 5,770.00 4,634.61 5,770.00 6,531.00 13.2% TOTAL SALARIES 233,606.81 272,698.00 272,698.00 219,377.63 272,698.00 278,212.00 2.0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 016522 522000 TELEPHONE 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 5,500.00 3,840.00 -30.2% 016522 522500 ELECTRIC 21,050.00 21,050.00 21,050.00 21,050.00 21,050.00 9,500.00 -54.9% 016522 527500 MV REPAIRS 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 .0% 016522 527700 BLDGREPAIR 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% 016522 528600 AUDIT SERV 13,000.00 13,000.00 13,000.00 13,000.00 13,000.00 16,425.00 26.3% 016522 528804 ATH FIELD 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,300.00 3,500.00 6.1% 016522 529000 PROF SERV 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 55,850.00 55,850.00 55,850.00 55,850.00 55,850.00 46,265.00 -17.2% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 016522 530500 OFFICE SUP 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 525.00 5.0% 016522 530800 HEAT FUEL 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,450.00 4,450.00 4,500.00 12.5% 016522 531000 GAS & OIL 3,500.00 3,500.00 3,500.00 3,500.00 3,500.00 3,500.00 .0% 016522 532000 CLEAN SUP 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 525.00 5.0% 016522 533000 PAINTS 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 525.00 5.0% 016522 533500 TOOLS 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 525.00 5.0% 016522 535100 PARK SUP 55,000.00 55,000.00 55,000.00 55,000.00 55,000.00 55,000.00 .0% 016522 537200 LUMBER 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 525.00 5.0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 65,000.00 65,000.00 65,000.00 65,450.00 65,450.00 65,625.00 1.0% 54 OTHER CHARGES 016522 543201 WCINS PINE 4,750.00 4,750.00 4,750.00 5,250.00 4,750.00 5,250.00 10.5% 016522 544320 FIRE INS 7,000.00 7,000.00 7,000.00 7,500.00 7,500.00 7,500.00 7.1% 016522 544325 PB LIAB IN 1,250.00 1,250.00 1,250.00 1,250.00 1,750.00 1,250.00 .0% 016522 544330 AUTO INS 2,550.00 2,550.00 2,550.00 2,875.00 2,875.00 2,875.00 12.7% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 15,550.00 15,550.00 15,550.00 16,875.00 16,875.00 16,875.00 8.5% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 016522 551053 PB VEH&EQU .00 .00 .00 15,520.50 .00 28,130.00 .0% 016523 551099 PB PROJECT 101,294.18 101,295.00 101,295.00 101,294.18 101,295.00 75,971.00 -25.0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 40 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 016523 551102 PF SHED 48,597.67 48,598.00 48,598.00 48,597.67 48,598.00 48,598.00 .0% 016523 551189 TURF/PLAYG 76,828.15 76,829.00 76,829.00 76,828.15 76,829.00 76,829.00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 226,720.00 226,722.00 226,722.00 242,240.50 226,722.00 229,528.00 1.2% TOTAL PINE BANKS 596,726.81 635,820.00 635,820.00 599,793.13 637,595.00 636,505.00 .1% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 41 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 693 MEMORIAL BUILDING 51 SALARIES 016931 511000 S & W 158,106.32 148,886.00 148,886.00 118,443.62 148,886.00 153,361.00 3.0% TOTAL SALARIES 158,106.32 148,886.00 148,886.00 118,443.62 148,886.00 153,361.00 3.0% 52 CONTRACTUAL 016932 522500 ELECTRIC 16,850.60 20,700.00 20,700.00 9,074.98 25,959.88 20,700.00 .0% 016932 522600 GAS HEAT 16,368.93 12,295.00 12,295.00 17,313.78 12,295.00 12,295.00 .0% 016932 527303 ELEVATOR 5,535.92 5,813.00 5,813.00 5,768.72 5,813.00 6,011.00 3.4% 016932 527700 BLDGREPAIR 8,645.29 6,273.00 6,273.00 1,861.12 6,273.00 6,273.00 .0% 016932 529000 PROF SERV 14,614.19 16,000.00 16,000.00 15,891.19 16,000.00 22,240.00 39.0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 62,014.93 61,081.00 61,081.00 49,909.79 66,340.88 67,519.00 10.5% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 016932 530501 MISC SUP 5,200.74 5,170.00 5,170.00 3,769.59 5,170.00 5,170.00 .0% 016932 530508 MARKET SUP 393.00 800.00 800.00 26.98 800.00 800.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 5,593.74 5,970.00 5,970.00 3,796.57 5,970.00 5,970.00 .0% TOTAL MEMORIAL BUILDING 225,714.99 215,937.00 215,937.00 172,149.98 221,196.88 226,850.00 5.1% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 42 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 711 MUNICIPAL DEBT 56 MISCELLANEOUS 017112 565000 MUNI DEBT 2,259,500.00 2,333,100.00 2,333,100.00 2,410,200.00 2,333,100.00 2,179,000.00 -6.6% 017112 565010 EX PRINC 1,733,909.35 1,809,910.00 1,809,910.00 1,809,909.35 1,809,910.00 1,934,410.00 6.9% TOTAL MISCELLANEOUS 3,993,409.35 4,143,010.00 4,143,010.00 4,220,109.35 4,143,010.00 4,113,410.00 -.7% TOTAL MUNICIPAL DEBT 3,993,409.35 4,143,010.00 4,143,010.00 4,220,109.35 4,143,010.00 4,113,410.00 -.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 43 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 751 MUNICIPAL DEBT INTEREST 54 OTHER CHARGES 017512 549102 MUNI INT 1,127,840.76 1,472,667.00 1,472,667.00 1,514,593.77 1,472,667.00 1,396,459.00 -5.2% 017512 549103 EXEMPT INT 227,255.94 159,778.00 159,778.00 159,777.75 159,778.00 2,042,017.00 1178.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 1,355,096.70 1,632,445.00 1,632,445.00 1,674,371.52 1,632,445.00 3,438,476.00 110.6% TOTAL MUNICIPAL DEBT INTERES 1,355,096.70 1,632,445.00 1,632,445.00 1,674,371.52 1,632,445.00 3,438,476.00 110.6% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 44 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 752 PROJECTED DEBT & TEMP INTEREST 54 OTHER CHARGES 017522 549100 PROJ DEBT 311,275.56 380,300.00 380,300.00 312,968.75 380,300.00 897,362.00 136.0% 017522 549103 EXEMPT INT .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 311,275.56 380,300.00 380,300.00 312,968.75 380,300.00 897,362.00 136.0% TOTAL PROJECTED DEBT & TEMP 311,275.56 380,300.00 380,300.00 312,968.75 380,300.00 897,362.00 136.0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 45 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 911 PENSION 51 SALARIES 019111 511010 CONTRIB 7,366,574.00 7,620,971.00 8,120,971.00 8,120,971.00 7,620,971.00 8,272,164.00 1.9% TOTAL SALARIES 7,366,574.00 7,620,971.00 8,120,971.00 8,120,971.00 7,620,971.00 8,272,164.00 1.9% TOTAL PENSION 7,366,574.00 7,620,971.00 8,120,971.00 8,120,971.00 7,620,971.00 8,272,164.00 1.9% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 46 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 912 WORKER'S COMPENSATION 54 OTHER CHARGES 019122 543100 W C MED 147,408.67 100,000.00 100,000.00 129,433.54 100,000.00 150,000.00 50.0% 019122 543101 W C EXP 35,166.32 50,000.00 50,000.00 36,309.03 50,000.00 50,000.00 .0% 019122 543102 W C BENE 241,935.54 234,000.00 234,000.00 212,089.44 234,000.00 234,000.00 .0% 019122 543200 INDEMN 80,331.61 70,000.00 70,000.00 55,961.52 70,000.00 70,000.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 504,842.14 454,000.00 454,000.00 433,793.53 454,000.00 504,000.00 11.0% TOTAL WORKER'S COMPENSATION 504,842.14 454,000.00 454,000.00 433,793.53 454,000.00 504,000.00 11.0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 47 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 913 UNEMPLOYMENT 54 OTHER CHARGES 019132 544400 UNEMP EXP 79,969.86 411,000.00 411,000.00 155,168.59 418,440.00 100,000.00 -75.7% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 79,969.86 411,000.00 411,000.00 155,168.59 418,440.00 100,000.00 -75.7% TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT 79,969.86 411,000.00 411,000.00 155,168.59 418,440.00 100,000.00 -75.7% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 48 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 914 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 51 SALARIES 019141 511000 S & W 96,816.15 101,220.00 101,220.00 90,294.49 101,220.00 115,107.00 13.7% TOTAL SALARIES 96,816.15 101,220.00 101,220.00 90,294.49 101,220.00 115,107.00 13.7% 54 OTHER CHARGES 019142 549201 GROUP HEAL 13,139,054.91 14,500,000.00 14,942,455.00 11,914,426.63 14,500,000.00 16,426,989.00 9.9% 019142 549214 LIFE INS P 79,832.37 90,000.00 90,000.00 71,866.17 90,000.00 90,000.00 .0% 019142 549215 SENTINEL F 13,822.60 16,000.00 16,000.00 12,743.80 16,000.00 16,000.00 .0% 019142 549217 PART B 70% 928,880.95 985,000.00 985,000.00 953,755.00 985,000.00 1,056,720.00 7.3% 019142 549218 PART B PEN 21,673.90 22,000.00 22,000.00 15,694.00 22,000.00 22,000.00 .0% 019142 549223 HIATUS .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .0% 019142 549224 OPT OUT 784,050.34 816,800.00 816,800.00 618,430.14 816,800.00 816,800.00 .0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 14,967,315.07 16,429,800.00 16,872,255.00 13,586,915.74 16,429,800.00 18,428,509.00 9.2% TOTAL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 15,064,131.22 16,531,020.00 16,973,475.00 13,677,210.23 16,531,020.00 18,543,616.00 9.3% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 49 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 916 MEDICARE TAX CITY PORTION 54 OTHER CHARGES 019162 548000 MED TX CTY 983,942.45 1,005,581.00 1,046,705.00 848,010.22 1,005,581.00 1,099,040.00 5.0% TOTAL OTHER CHARGES 983,942.45 1,005,581.00 1,046,705.00 848,010.22 1,005,581.00 1,099,040.00 5.0% TOTAL MEDICARE TAX CITY PORT 983,942.45 1,005,581.00 1,046,705.00 848,010.22 1,005,581.00 1,099,040.00 5.0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 50 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 930 DEPARTMENTAL EQUIPMENT 52 CONTRACTUAL 019302 527602 IT COPY LE 47,006.97 27,707.00 27,707.00 21,125.30 31,023.21 27,707.00 .0% TOTAL CONTRACTUAL 47,006.97 27,707.00 27,707.00 21,125.30 31,023.21 27,707.00 .0% 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 019302 530100 IT COMP PU 66,308.12 28,000.00 28,000.00 28,000.00 28,000.00 28,000.00 .0% 019302 530103 IT PRINTER 3,541.10 2,000.00 2,000.00 2,173.10 2,371.26 2,000.00 .0% 019302 530500 OFFICE SUP 21,108.52 33,329.00 33,329.00 35,392.86 38,076.07 33,329.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 90,957.74 63,329.00 63,329.00 65,565.96 68,447.33 63,329.00 .0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 019303 551059 PERMIT SFT 50,688.27 60,000.00 60,000.00 54,939.08 79,072.21 60,000.00 .0% 019303 551165 DRAIN 2,564.15 .00 .00 76,055.73 76,055.73 .00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 53,252.42 60,000.00 60,000.00 130,994.81 155,127.94 60,000.00 .0% TOTAL DEPARTMENTAL EQUIPMENT 191,217.13 151,036.00 151,036.00 217,686.07 254,598.48 151,036.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 51 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 931 CAPITAL OUTLAY 53 SUPPLIES & MATERIAL 019313 530706 FIRE EQUIP .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 109,000.00 .0% 019313 535505 BUNKER GEA .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 58,500.00 .0% 019313 537500 FURN&FIX .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 100,000.00 .0% 01931773 537500 FURN&TECH .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 100,000.00 .0% TOTAL SUPPLIES & MATERIAL .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 367,500.00 .0% 55 CAPITAL OUTLAY 019313 551032 PUMP .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 50,000.00 .0% 019313 551049 POL VEHICL .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 83,000.00 .0% 019313 551072 MASONRY .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 250,000.00 .0% 019313 551185 ARC ELECT .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 225,000.00 .0% 019313 551186 MILANO .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 75,000.00 .0% 01931773 551097 SCHOOL IT 114,868.29 .00 .00 .00 8,953.47 325,000.00 .0% 01931773 551168 PARKS .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 200,000.00 .0% 01931773 551193 MVMMS .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 100,000.00 .0% 01931773 551196 HOOV APR .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 75,000.00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 114,868.29 .00 .00 .00 8,953.47 1,383,000.00 .0% TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 114,868.29 .00 .00 .00 8,953.47 1,750,500.00 .0% Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 52 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrptsCITY OF MELROSE v2024.7 LIVE NEXT YEAR / CURRENT YEAR BUDGET ANALYSIS PROJECTION: 2027 FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR PERIOD 99 ACCOUNTS FOR: 2025 2026 2026 2026 2026 2027 PCT GENERAL FUND ACTUAL ORIG BUD REVISED BUD ACTUAL PROJECTION MAYOR CHANGE 942 STABILIZATION FUNDS 56 MISCELLANEOUS 019422 561300 STABIL TRT 50,000.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 .00 50,000.00 50,000.00 .0% 019422 561350 CONTRACT .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 400,000.00 .0% 019422 561400 OPEB TRUST 50,000.00 50,000.00 550,000.00 .00 50,000.00 50,000.00 -90.9% TOTAL MISCELLANEOUS 100,000.00 100,000.00 600,000.00 .00 100,000.00 500,000.00 -16.7% TOTAL STABILIZATION FUNDS 100,000.00 100,000.00 600,000.00 .00 100,000.00 500,000.00 -16.7% TOTAL GENERAL FUND 64,190,836.38 107,575,802.00 121,092,352.00 66,213,351.77 109,305,232.97 126,652,797.00 4.6% GRAND TOTAL 64,190,836.38 107,575,802.00 121,092,352.00 66,213,351.77 109,305,232.97 126,652,797.00 4.6% ** END OF REPORT - Generated by Kerriann Golden ** Report generated: 05/07/2026 14:29 Page 53 User: kgolden Program ID: bgnyrpts Fiscal Year 2027 Board/Commission Memo to City Council Board/Commission: Beebe Estate Name of Chair: Bill Butler 1. Board/Commission Overview: Trustees appointed to steward the Beebe Estate 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: Accomplishments: New master lock and key system, exterior painting, holiday decor, appointed new member and Building Manager, John Tozza, extra shrub pruning, new website done in partnership with the Creative Alliance, hosted second year of Bier Garden events. Challenges: gutter inspection - looking to replace gutter in phases this and next FY. 3. FY 27 Priorities: Generate more awareness of the estate for private rental use via online marketing campaign and special events. Complete gutter renovation. Complete wiﬁ installation for the use of renters. 4. What, if anything, has changed for your Board/Commission Budget for FY 27? Nothing. Fiscal Year 2027 Board/Commission Memo to City Council Board/Commission: Commission on Disability Name of Chair: Gary Hale 1. Board/Commission Overview: The purpose of the Commission on Disability is to provide advocacy, education and information toward the goal of assuring that Melrose is fully inclusive of all people with disabilities. The Commission is comprised of seven members, four of whom are individuals with disabilities, one a parent of a young adult with a disability, one member with years of experience in the field of disability, and a City liaison. Several of our members have many years of experience working with people with disabilities in various ways and toward unique goals. The predominance of a perspective on disability as it exists on our Commission makes us an informed and insightful group that effectively advocates for Melrose residents with disabilities and that provides an expert resource to the City in its shared commitment to the inclusion of people with disabilities. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: A. The Commission worked with City personnel to obtain a $171,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability to address some accessibility needs in three elementary schools. The work was underway during the April school vacation. B. The Commission completed and is distributing a “Guide for Community Organizations” that addresses ways in which people with disabilities can be welcomed and included in organizational activities, considerations for ensuring accessibility in meeting spaces and when conducting events, and ways to address reasonable accommodation requests. C. Last July, the Commission organized some activities to acknowledge disability pride month and to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Activities included a panel discussion, a book reading about disability for children and a mural was painted on the side of the YMCA. D. The Commission initiated and effort to connect students with disabilities at the high school with work experience opportunities at Melrose businesses. This has been a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and the High School Special Ed Department. E. The Commission provided a resource to work with the City toward website accessibility. City the size of Melrose are expected by the State to have addressed this satisfactorily by April, 2027. F. We have taken on some advocacy issues, particularly when it tends to effect the disability community at large. An example of this are the ‘no parking’ signs along Lebanon Street across from the softball field. 3. FY 27 Priorities: A. The Commission will be available to provide education and resources pertaining to the Guide for Community Organizations. B. We intend to continue and expand our initiative to increase the participation of community businesses in providing work exposure and experience for students with disabilities at the High School C. We will, again, arrange activities for Disability Pride Month, July. D. We will continue to develop our partnerships with city departments to bring important advocacy issues to their attention and to provide our resources and expertise when requested. E. We will continue to seek ways to reach out to and connect with the disability community in Melrose. 4. What, if anything, has changed for your Board/Commission Budget for FY 27? In FY’26, the Commission on Disability had no budget although the City was very supportive in finding funds to cover our few expenses. As the Commission on Disability, we are able to access the Handicapped Parking Violation fund by requesting these funds through the City. In FY’27, we anticipate a budget of $2,500 which we will prudently utilize to support our priority activities. Fiscal Year 2027 Board/Commission Memo to City Council Board/Commission: Human Rights Commission Name of Chair: Josh Shortlidge 1. Board/Commission Overview: a. The Melrose Human Rights Commission (MHRC) works closely with City of Melrose leadership and partners to address issues of human and civil rights, reinforces a positive atmosphere in the community, and amplifies and promotes organizations and people working to make Melrose one community, open to all. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: a. Distributed “Know Your Rights” (KYR) Red Cards in seventeen languages at Melrose City Hall, the Melrose Farmers Market, and other high-need locations i. KYR Red Cards are small, business-card-sized tools that help individuals assert their constitutional rights during encounters with immigration or law enforcement b. Published three resource guides to connect vulnerable community members with available services: i. Legal and Civil Rights Resource Guide (PDF) ii. LGBTQ+ Resource Guide (PDF) iii. Immigrant and Refugee Legal Resource Guide (PDF) c. Created an intake process to review claims of discrimination based on protected class and provide referrals to appropriate agencies and resources d. Increased community engagement through social media outreach e. Provided supplies and support for community events, including MLK Day of Service and the Roosevelt School World Culture Fair f. Challenge: The absence of an administrative budget limited the scale, consistency, and reach of these efforts 3. FY 27 Priorities: a. Visibility: Strengthen MHRC’s role as a trusted public resource i. Publish human and civil rights explainer pieces in local media ii. Participate in community events to share MHRC materials and KYR information b. Education: Expand KYR and documentation training i. Host KYR trainings, including at least one in a high-need location ii. Partner with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office for trainings (KYR, active bystander) iii. Continue distribution of KYR cards and resource materials iv. Develop educational materials explaining judicial vs. administrative warrants c. Community Coordination: Strengthen local alignment i. Clarify and publish ICE-related policies in coordination with Melrose Police ii. Confirm and document policies for Melrose Public Schools and Melrose Wakefield Hospital d. Community Engagement: Deepen participation and support i. Facilitate community forums to explain policies and answer questions ii. Ensure legal training resources are accessible to residents iii. Host or co-host active/aware bystander trainings with community partners e. Foundations: Build internal capacity i. Provide training for commissioners on human and civil rights fundamentals 4. What, if anything, has changed for your Board/Commission Budget for FY 27? a. The need for resources, trainings, and community engagement has increased. MHRC has established a strong foundation for outreach aligned with the City's commitment to protecting residents' rights. With funding, the Commission can expand multilingual materials, replenish KYR cards, and host public forums, trainings, and interpretation services. b. Without a restored budget, MHRC's ability to provide consistent programming, respond to community needs, and proactively address discrimination and misinformation will remain limited. c. Request: Restoration of an annual operating budget of $2,500 to support: i. Printing and translation of materials ii. Community events and trainings iii. Outreach supplies and tools iv. Administrative support Fiscal Year 2027 Board/Commission Memo to City Council Board/Commission: Commission on Women Name of Chair: Karen Blackburn & Alli Goldberg 1. Board/Commission Overview: The Melrose Commission on Women (“MCW”) works to investigate, understand, educate, and promote constructive action in areas of interest and concern to all women and girls, including trans women and girls, in our community. As a central voice in the community, MCW promotes opportunities, fosters equity and belonging, and provides the community with a vehicle for information, advocacy and action on issues affecting all women. Understanding that our community is open to all, we advocate and support diversity across all aspects of our lives - gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, culture, age, abilities, and socio-economic background. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: Despite not having a budget due to the fiscal realities of the city, the MCW had a productive year. Building on the success of our financial literacy event to close out the previous fiscal year, we once again focused on bring women together to engage with and learn from one another. We hosted two book club events centered on women’s brain health—understanding some of the factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s in women and the role nutrition plays. Both events were held at The Residence at Melrose Station and close to 50 people attended. We are currently planning a June event focused on the role fitness plays in preventing Alzheimer’s and leading a healthy life. We welcomed three new commissioners, who each bring a variety of expertise and passion to this work. The most significant challenge has been finding creative ways to introduce more of the community to our work and events. We’ve been unable to utilize our Facebook account for several years but have finally developed a workaround that should make raising awareness of our events and engagement opportunities much easier. 3. FY 27 Priorities: With our commissioners having incredible full lives outside of this work, we aim to keep our programming focused and simple. In FY27 we plan to revisit our interview series with MMTV, EmpowerHER, where we interviewed leaders in our community on issues of importance to women. We’ll continue with our thematic book events and will explore other programming ideas depending on issues and opportunities facing our primary constituents. 4. What, if anything, has changed for your Board/Commission Budget for FY 27? Having a budget for FY27 will be a huge help in ensuring our programming is not solely reliant on donated time and items. Fiscal Year 2027 Board/Commission Memo to City Council Board/Commission: Liquor License Commission Name of Chair: Joseph P. Nevin, Jr. 1. Board/Commission Overview: FY 2026 was a solid year. Melrose currently has 21 liquor licenses issued – 12 Restaurants (3 wine & malt beverages and 9 full alcohol), 3 Retail full alcohol licenses, 1 Farmer/Brewer license and 5 Private Clubs. The Liquor License Commission met on a monthly basis. All licenses were renewed in December 2025. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: a. New Licenses – Three new establishments opened • Restaurant Full Alcohol – Bangkok Thai • Restaurant Wine & Malt Beverages – Table 4 & Big Fin Poke • Retail Full Alcohol – Franklin Market b. Farmers market multiple one day permits/multiple vendors – summer & winter c. One day permits – We issue approximately 25 – 40 one day permits annually. d. We had one Commissioner depart the Commission (Kevin Cronin) and added a new Commissioner (Diane Casey). We thank and greatly appreciate Commissioner Cronin’s time, dedication and service to the commission and welcome Commissioner Casey. 3. FY 27 Priorities: a. Review current Melrose Liquor Licensing Commission General Rules and Regulations for Licensing of Alcoholic Beverage Sales in the City of Melrose, last amended March 30, 2015. b. Review current license fees and those of surrounding communities. c. License Renewals. d. Website update. 4. What, if anything, has changed for your Board/Commission Budget for FY 27? No change. Fiscal Year 2027 Department Memo to City Council Department: Clerk’s/Elections Name of Department Head: Tanji Cifuni 1. Department Overview and Mission: The City Clerk is the official keeper of the history and records of Melrose. Our mission remains dedicated to maintaining and protecting historical records as safely as possible while also servicing the public by providing information in an efficient and timely manner. At the literal and figurative main entrance to City Hall, the Clerk’s office is a busy, vibrant gateway municipal services. Often the first point of contact with the public is to respond to questions and concerns that arise with our residents. The 4-person department consists of a City Clerk, an Assistant City Clerk, an Elections Administrator and a Senior Clerk. City Clerk Tanji Cifuni Asst. City Clerk Linda Reed Election Clerk James Harris Senior Clerk Kathy Maihack Records kept by the office include: • Vitals Statistics: Births, Deaths, Marriages, Affidavits & Correction of Vitals • Election and Census records • Business Certificate Filings and Dissolution • Original filings of Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning, Site Plan and Slope Protection Decisions (29 cases) • All notifications of meetings of municipal governmental bodies (253 meetings) • Common Victualler Licenses, Second Hand Dealers Licenses, Class I & II Motor Vehicle Licenses, Gasoline Storage Certificates, Food Truck and Hackney license • Dog Licenses • Insurance Claim filings • Raffle permits • Conflict of Interest completion records • Oaths of Office and Committee • All City Council documents: Orders, ordinances, resolutions and motions minutes, agenda for all meetings, Council related Mayoral communications and all City of Melrose Board and Commission appointments (25 council meetings) 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: FY 27 Budget Memo page. 1 • Conducted a successful local election in November with 11,227 voters turning out which is 51% of the total registered voters ( Early Voters 4857 and Election Day 6370) • Distribution of annual online Conflict of Interest training information to all City employees including public safety and public school personnel. • Rolled out a new software platform for city and school agenda and minutes across the city. This was a large undertaking and the roll out of the program was successful. • Annual training of election workers with almost 100 percent attendance • Continued organization, inspection and preservation of municipal records • Electronic distribution of monthly Campaign Finance newsletter • Refresh and update to departmental webpages • Updated our licensing and permit fees for the department • Created and or edited our annual license applications • Coordinated a SAFE audit with the State ( Paid for by the State ) on our election procedures on a daily basis as well as Election Day • Revamped the nomination packages for the local election • Mailed out over 16,000 census first week in January and to date have received and processed a little over 10,000 over the last few months. We will be mailing out a REMINDER confirmation card to all registered voters that have not mailed in their census in the next week. • Send updated Registered Dog Licenses to BOH the first day of the Month to post on website • Send the State Representative the list of all newly registered voters on the first day of each month 3. FY 27 Priorities: Updating the 28 Election Poll pads for the Primary and November State Elections Running a smooth State Primary and November election Increasing the voter turnout for State elections 4. What has changed in the Department’s Budget for FY 27? As a result of these changes, what are the corresponding service delivery impacts? At this time, we did not run against any negative financial constraints because we plan accordingly. 5. What costs, if any, are housed in your department’s budget to support the Melrose Public Schools? Election Office If a School Committee member runs for office then we manage the election process and make sure that the candidate files their campaign finance reports in a timely manner. City Clerks office • Perform the oaths for the School Committee members • We also make sure that all school staff members complete the annual conflict of interest training FY 27 Budget Memo page. 2 • Post Agendas and minutes for all School Subcommittee meetings 6. What impacts, if any, has the Proposition 2 ½ Override Melrose voters approved in November had on your Department’s Budget for FY 27? The City Council, Clerks Office and Elections office was not negatively or positively affected by the result of the override election at this time. FY 27 Budget Memo page. 3 Total number of transactions Total Sterilized dogs @$23 each 1597 $36,728 Intact dogs @$25 each 131 $3,275 Late Fee @ $18 each 150 $4,178 Replacement Tag @ $5 each - Total 2 = $10.00 2 $10 Marriage Certificates @ $20 each - Over the counter 75 $1,500 Birth Certificates -@ $20 each - Over the counter 642 $12,840 Death Certificates -@ $20 each - Over the counter 474 $9,480 Marriage Certificates - @ $22 each- Online 72 $1,584 Birth Certificates - @ $22 each - Online 419 $9,218 Death Certificates - @22 each - Online 288 $6,336 Marriage Intentions -@75 each 28 $2,100 Mail-In Vital Requests -@ $22 each 40 $880 Gas and Storage -Different amounts per location 29 $3,137 Fees -@ $50 each 15 $750 Amendments - @ $75 each 10 $750 Planning Board -Different amounts per job 2 $2,165 Board of Appeals Commerical - @ $500 each 1 $500 Board of Appeals Residential @ $350 each 10 $3,500 Business Certificates - @ $75 each 35 $2,625 Change of Business - @ $15 each 2 $30 Common Victualler - @ $175 each 40 $7,000 Class II Motor - @ $150 each 5 $750 Second Hand Dealer - @ $150 each 3 $450 Livery -$175 each 1 $175 Raffles - @ $50 for new $10 for renewal 2 $60 Copies - @ 1.00 each 9 $9.00 Total $110,030 FY 27 Budget Memo page. 4 Fiscal Year 2027 Department Memo to City Council Department: Council on Aging Name of Department Head: Erica Drummond 1. Department Overview and Mission: The Melrose Council on Aging (COA) aims to connect older adults with programs, resources, and services in our community to generate a positive impact on daily living. The COA serves older adults aged 60+. Members of the Milano Center have the opportunity to participate in fitness programs, social engagement activities, and educational presentations. Members can also take advantage of resources like the COA’s social services team and transportation program. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: a. Marked progress on strategic planning goals that were created from the 2022 Needs Assessment including creation of resources for housing options, an ADU information session, assisting members with MBTA discount passes, a digital literacy program on rideshare apps, a YMCA information session, Senior Strolls with the Friends of the Middlesex Fells, the continuation of our weekly walking club, resource creation for food insecurity, a monthly men’s breakfast to increase male membership, distribution of a resource guide and accessible walking maps, hosting our annual Open House and Resource Fair, increasing fitness class offerings, and creating participant led programming like armchair travel. b. Progress towards an Age-Friendly/Dementia-Friendly city designation with plans to officially apply by the end of the fiscal year c. As of 4/24/2026, the Milano Center has served 1,199 individuals who have recorded 14,104 check ins. d. As of 4/24/2026, the Council on Aging transportation program has provided 2,034 rides to Melrose residents, with 524 of those going to medical destinations. e. Challenges included an update to our weekly schedule to maximize parking efficiency, increased costs of goods and services, and special limitations within the Milano Center building. 3. FY 27 Priorities: a. Updates to the Council on Aging city webpage to include tax relief resources, support groups, durable medical equipment, Memory Café, and all program offerings b. “Milano on the Move” programming to work more collaboratively with local resources, businesses, and city departments c. Memory Café – continuing this monthly resource for caregivers and their loved ones d. “Aging in Place” panel e. “Enriching Retirement” programming f. Member-led programming FY 27 Budget Memo page. 1 4. What has changed in the Department’s Budget for FY 27? As a result of these changes, what are the corresponding service delivery impacts? Changes to the department’s budget include several line item increases to create level funding from FY25, increases to salaries and wages to keep positions competitive, and increases to the “Dues & Memberships” line item to reflect the higher costs of services. 5. What costs, if any, are housed in your department’s budget to support the Melrose Public Schools? N/A 6. What impacts, if any, has the Proposition 2 ½ Override Melrose voters approved in November had on your Department’s Budget for FY 27? The Proposition 2 ½ Override has ensured that the Council on Aging’s Milano Center can continue to operate at levels residents have come to expect. This includes the transportation program, social services, fitness offerings, social engagement activities, and educational opportunities. Specifically, the Milano Center will reduce fitness class fees from $5 per class to $2 per class in order to maximize participation in these vital programs. Without the Proposition 2 ½ Override, this price reduction would not be possible. In addition to level funding from FY25, the Council on Aging is also benefiting from $40,000 in capital funding from the override to install lighting along the driveway. Upon completion, this project will provide safe access to participants who walk to evening events, as well as increasing the overall security of the property. FY 27 Budget Memo page. 2 Fiscal Year 2027 Department Memo to City Council Department: Veterans’ Services Name of Department Head: Tammy Shovelton 1. Department Overview and Mission: Melrose Veterans’ Services administers all aspects of Massachusetts Chapter 115—including emergency funds for urgent needs—helps veterans and families understand and file for federal, state, and local benefits, liaises on VA claims and appeals, hosts benefits-review meetings to explain changes, coordinates Veterans Day and Memorial Day commemorations, cares for and preserves Melrose’s veterans monuments, and operates a monthly food mart where veterans and family members select the groceries they need. These efforts cut red tape, improve food security, protect historic memorials, and reduce hardship while honoring the service of our veteran community. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: In FY26, Melrose Veterans’ Services relocated its office from the Milano Center to City Hall to improve access and coordination; restored the Otis W. Bishop Memorial Plaque; conducted several outreach events; actively supported 77 veterans on VA claims; ensured 16 veterans or dependents received Chapter 115 assistance; and launched Monthly Veteran Socials to strengthen community connection. We also formally codified and publicly published the Veterans Property Tax Work-Off Program 3. FY 27 Priorities: Sustain and expand outreach through monthly socials, neighborhood pop-up benefits clinics, and quarterly workshops; provide comprehensive care and preservation of all veterans memorials citywide with a documented inspection/maintenance schedule; and host Thanksgiving and Christmas community dinners for Melrose veterans and families with on-site benefits navigation, and follow-up case management—strengthening access to benefits, food security, and community connection. 4. What has changed in the Department’s Budget for FY 27? As a result of these changes, what are the corresponding service delivery impacts? In FY27, the Veterans’ Services Department will implement a 3% salary increase, increase mileage funding to support home visits and event logistics, expand war memorial maintenance, strengthen outreach programming, and increase the veteran’s benefits line. We are also raising the allocation FY 27 Budget Memo page. 1 for employee professional development to ensure staff can meet evolving state and federal standards in benefits administration, claims processing, compliance. 5. What costs, if any, are housed in your department’s budget to support the Melrose Public Schools? NA 6. What impacts, if any, has the Proposition 2 ½ Override Melrose voters approved in November had on your Department’s Budget for FY 27? Thanks to the override, the Veterans’ Services Department has restored outreach funding and raised targeted spending levels where needs are most acute—professional development (required training), mileage for home visits and outreach, war memorial maintenance, veterans’ benefits assistance, and employee education/seminars—while decreasing software and licensing costs through consolidation and efficiencies. These adjustments sustain service quality, expand access to benefits, and ensure we can meet growing demand and deliver timely support to Melrose veterans and their families. FY 27 Budget Memo page. 2 Fiscal Year 2027 Department Memo to City Council Department: Mayor (121) Name of Department Head: Mayor Jen Grigoraitis 1. Department Overview and Mission: The mayor is the chief executive officer of the City of Melrose, elected by the voters at large every four years. The mayor oversees all City operations and is responsible for appointing department heads, city officers, and the members of multi-member bodies (Boards & Commissions). Jen Grigoraitis is the 24th Mayor of Melrose, the first woman elected mayor, and assumed office on January 8, 2024. The mayor has oversight over all City departments, with all department heads with the exception of the superintendent of schools, reporting to the mayor. Per city charter, the mayor serves as an ex officio member of the Melrose School Committee, which hires and supervises the superintendent. The mayor’s office engages with a variety of stakeholders, including residents; federal, state, and local elected officials; members of City boards and commissions; and local media Staff also regularly provide information and resources to residents via email, phone and in-person visits. The Mayor’s Department is currently staffed by the following employees: • Mayor Jen Grigoraitis • Chief of Staff, Lauren Grymek • Communications & Events Manager, Thomas Dalton • Part-Time Executive Assistant to the Mayor and Constituent Services Representative, Diane MacDonald The Mayor’s Department continues to utilize and manage Property Tax Work Off Participants who provide front desk coverage to answer and transfer phone calls within City Hall, greet and assist walk- ins, and assist with administrative tasks in the absence of a full-time Executive Assistant. 2. FY 26 Accomplishments/Challenges: Constituent Services and Events: Throughout FY 26, Mayor Grigoraitis and her staff met with hundreds of residents in a variety of settings and forums including: in-person Mayor’s Office Hours; coffee hours at senior and public housing facilities (the Steele House, the Cefalo Complex, the Cochrane House, the McCarthy House, the Fuller and Gould Houses, and the Residence at Melrose Station); and new events such as Slice of the City neighborhood pizza socials and a New Resident Open House at City Hall. The mayor also conducted in-person office hours with residents throughout the year. These events provided an opportunity for residents to speak directly with the mayor about their concerns, priorities, and hopes for the community. At the five Slice of the City events held over the summer and fall, residents joined the mayor and city councilors for informal gatherings at parks and green spaces in their wards of the city while enjoying pizza from a neighborhood restaurant. FY 27 Budget Memo page 1 The mayor’s office works closely with departments who regularly provide social services support and outreach, including the Council on Aging and the Veterans’ Services Department. These departments oversee City resources including the Melrose Emergency Fund, the monthly Veterans Food Mart and the Veterans Relief Fund, and assist with SNAP benefits and applications, emergency funding and housing resources. Through this social services team, the mayor’s office led the city’s response to the temporary termination of SNAP benefits to approximately 50 Melrose residents in early 2026. Thanks to the generosity of so many Melrosians who sustainably donate to the Melrose Emergency Fund, the city was able to provide grocery store gift cards to residents in need over eight weeks, as well as share resources on non-profit supports available for the impacted Melrosians. The Mayor’s Office is the primary respondent to calls and emails from residents looking for information and resources. On a typical weekday the Mayor’s office receives an average of 15 calls and dozens of emails and website contact forms plus walk-in visits from residents looking for general City information and assistance, ideas and requests of the Mayor, and help and resources. One of the office’s Property Tax Work Off participants has extensive public sector case management experience and we have created a case coordinator role filled by this individual so that they can assists with calls regarding housing and food insecurity. Most of the calls regarding housing come from residents residing at the Melrose Housing Authority and the Mayor’s office can easily resolve and assist these residents thanks to the collaborative working relationship with the Housing Authority’s Executive Director. Our PTWO case coordinator is tracking calls for social services support to help us best assess future options. Communications: The Mayor’s Office serves as the primary communications hub for residents and stakeholders. The Office provides: a weekly email newsletter to approximately 2,800 individual subscribers; weekly City Hall submissions and press releases to the Melrose Weekly News and Melrose Messenger; a monthly email newsletter of activities and events run by local non-profits; frequent social media updates to over 2,200 followers on both Facebook and Instagram ; and episodes of the Melrose Minute podcast via MMTV. The Mayor’s Office also serves as the primary communications department for all City Departments, responding to media inquiries and interviews, assisting with writing of press releases and social media posts, advising on web content and helping to promote and publicize city programs and events. The Mayor’s Office continued to support and promote an incredible number of community events, including the following during FY 26: 1. Summer Stroll 2. Victorian Fair 3. Home for the Holidays 4. Sustainability Day 5. DPW Day (May) - expanded to serve the entire community this year 6. Third Annual 8th Grade Civics Day (June) 7. Melrose High Grad Night (June) 8. Pride flag raising at City Hall (June) 9. Juneteenth flag raising at City Hall (June) FY 27 Budget Memo page 2 10. Disability Pride City Initiatives & Special Projects: The Mayor’s Office continues to oversee and liaise with the City’s boards and commissions; to date the mayor has submitted 67 new mayoral appointments and reappointments throughout Fiscal Year 26 to resolve backlogs of empty seats and lapsed terms reaching back years. Staff regularly meets with chairs to strategize and plan for community programs, services and initiatives. Through the Chief of Staff and CFO, the Mayor’s office oversaw and coordinated the City’s FY 2027- 2031 Capital Improvement Program including the (CIP) Final Report. Since 1995, the CIP Committee has reviewed and recommended funding for capital projects on an annual basis. Capital projects are major, non-recurring expenditures that typically cost $25,000 or more and have a useful life of five or more years. For this iteration of the CIP, the committee reviewed over 100 project requests submitted by six departments. Creating a CIP is both a requirement of the city charter and a DLS recommended best practice for municipalities. The CIP is NOT a funding source; it is instead a guiding document on how the City should consider and prioritize planned capital investments as funding sources become available. Additionally, the Mayor’s office applied for and was awarded a Technical Assistance Planning Grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to conduct a strategic planning process for Memorial Hall and how we best utilize that building. The Chief of Staff has been the lead representative on the City side for this project, which has included a community survey, meetings with MAPC and various stakeholders and a community forum, to inform a strategic plan for how best to utilize Memorial Hall for the future. 3. FY 27 Priorities: Building Capacity in Sustainability and Youth Services: The Mayor’s Office will be asking the City Council to formally codify a Sustainability Commission to guide the administration’s work on energy savings and climate stewardship; and to bring back a Birth to Five advisory group to unify and enhance our local programs and opportunities for Melrose’s youngest residents. In addition, plans are underway to host the Slice of the City and New Resident Open House events again. In FY 27, the Mayor’s office will continue to pursue Vision Zero priorities, and we are currently waiting for the grant funding to be finalized. Communicating About the Override: After Melrose voters entrusted the city with additional revenue in the November 2025 override referendum, the Mayor’s Office and City Hall have undertaken unprecedented levels of public engagement and information-sharing to accurately and comprehensively demonstrate the impact of the override. The city website features several detailed lists and descriptions of override-funded services and projects, and communications spanning from press submissions to email newsletter to physical signage and flyers have clearly acknowledged the impact of the override on the viability and delivery of improved or sustained city services. Budget Transparency with ClearGov: Since Mayor Grigoraitis took office, City Hall has prioritized providing the most transparency into the city budget of any administration to date. The administration has regularly provided the City Council with updates as we move through several fiscal years and have regularly added documentation on the FY 27 Budget Memo page 3 City website. The administration continues to work towards even more access: this month, the City’s visual budget will be available on the city website, thanks to our use of ARPA funds to support the adoption of ClearGov, a platform which will enable us to share the budget with the public in a more comprehensive and digestible manner Public Safety Facilities Advisory Committee: The Public Safety Facilities Advisory Committee is appointed by the Mayor and staffed by the Public Safety Buildings Project Manager, who reports directly to the Mayor. The PSFAC was formed in 2024 to advise the mayor’s administration on the Public Safety Facilities renovation and replacement projects approved by Melrose voters in a November 2023 debt exclusion vote. 4. What has changed in the Department’s Budget for FY 27? As a result of these changes, what are the corresponding service delivery impacts? There are three line items within Department 121 which are changing for FY 27: (011211-511000) S&W: The Salary & Wages line item is increasing 9.1% to reflect the salary schedule set forth for salary of the Mayor according to Melrose Revised Ordinances, Chapter 48-1. Mayor. Part A, Salary and cost of living adjustments and any anticipated step-ups for three staff members in the department. On February 5, 2024, the City Council voted to increase the annual salary of the Mayor’s position from $125,000, which had been in effect since January 1, 2014, as follows: $137,500 - Effective January 1, 2026; and $150,000 - Effective January 1, 2027. Mayor Grigoraitis declined the increase for FY 26 due to the budget challenges facing the City at that time. (011212 – 525401) Website: The Website line item is increasing 33.3%. Oversight and maintenance of the City Website was previously in the City Council (112) Department under Website (011122 – 525401) and in FY 26 the work and annual costs were moved into the Mayor’s Department under a new line item. The increase in annual costs represents the full annual amount to host and maintain the City’s website. In FY 26 some of the costs were covered by remaining APRA funds which are no longer available. (011212 – 529000) Prof Serv: The Professional Services line item is increasing 50% to account for opportunities to support community outreach that would include things such as additional mailers and posters to communicate information to residents; hiring interpreters for events; and adding one- time community meetings and events as needed. It will also allow the Mayor’s Office to provide support for City-administered and managed community events including photography, marketing and publicity. 5. What costs, if any, are housed in your department’s budget to support the Melrose Public Schools? There are no direct costs housed in Department 121 which support the Melrose Public Schools. However, the Communications Manager works on school-related communications, press releases and other public-facing information as requested by the mayor and the superintendent of schools. 6. What impacts, if any, has the Proposition 2 ½ Override Melrose voters approved in November had on your Department’s Budget for FY 27? FY 27 Budget Memo page 4 The Professional Services line item is increasing 50% to account for opportunities to support community outreach that would include things such as additional mailers and posters to communicate information to residents; hiring interpreters for events; and adding one-time community meetings and events as needed. It will also allow the Mayor’s Office to provide support of City- administered and managed community events including photography, marketing and publicity. FY 27 Budget Memo page 5 A B C D E F G Department, Board, Committee, Agency or Fees, Charges or Other Restrictions or Conditions Officer Authorized to Receipts Credited to Program of Activity Expenses Payable from on Expenses Payable from Other Requirements/ Fund # Revolving Fund Spend from the Fund Fund Fund Fund Reports Fiscal years Supplies, administrative fees and permits for Veterans Service Officer any programs related to Veteran Services and Fiscal Year 2027 and 2607 Veterans and Board Donations Melrose Community events. $2,000 Annual Cap subsequent years Costs associated with the various programs sponsored by the Recreation Department Registration and User including the Director and Assistant Director's fees collected for salary, program coordinator salaries as well as Recreation Department supplies and equipment needed to run the Fiscal Year 2027 and 2652 Recreation Park Commission sponsored programs program. $500,000 Annual Cap subsequent years $15,000 Annual Cap. State-Mandated certificates of inspections, Salaries related to Director of Inspectional Fees from inspections of multifamily inspections, equipment, contracted contracted inspectors are Fiscal Year 2027 and 2658 Inspectional Services Services multifamily homes inspectors, education and printing. only paid from this fund. subsequent years Director of Health Fees associated with Costs associated with flu clinics, sale of bike Fiscal Year 2027 and 2659 Health Department public health programs helmets, salaries and CPR classes $60,000 Annual Cap subsequent years Fees associated with excessive false alarm responses from private $10,000 Annual Cap. No homes and businesses salaries are paid from this Fiscal Year 2027 and 2665 Police False Alarm Chief of Police throughout the City Maintenance of Police Department Fleet fund subsequent years Rental Fees and Custodial charges received from activities hosted by user groups and organizations that Supplies and maintenance costs associated do not reside within the with parks, fields and playgrounds where Fiscal Year 2027 and 2669 Park Permits Park Commission City. permits are issued. $40,000 Annual Cap subsequent years Fees associated with the $30,000 Annual Cap. No rental of this building Fees related to maintaining the Beebe Estate in salaries are paid from this Fiscal Year 2027 and 2750 Beebe Estate Beebe Estate Trustees and donations a safe and sanitary manner. fund subsequent years Council on Aging and Milano Center Programs and services, minibus related expenses and costs associated with maintaining the Milano Center in a safe and sanitary manner, Salary for Fiscal Year 2027 and 2811 Council on Aging Council on Aging Director Donations Social Service Coordinator $65,000 Annual Cap subsequent years CITY OF MELROSE OFFICE OF VETERANS SERVICES Melrose City Hall 562 Main Street Melrose, Massachusetts 02176 To: City Council CC: Mayor Jen Grigoraitis; Lauren Grymek, Chief of Staff From: Veterans Services Department Date: April 27, 2026 Re: Free Cash Appropriation Request for Veterans Welcome Home Sign The Veterans Services Department requests a free cash appropriation of $30,000 for costs associated with designing, fabricating and installing a new Welcome Home Veterans Sign. For over a decade, the sign has been prominently placed in the front yard of City Hall to honor and recognize Melrose veterans. Originally installed as a temporary banner after September 11, 2001, the following year it was changed to be a board with posts in the ground. In 2022 the current sign was installed, however it did not go before the Historic District Commission for approval. The Veterans Advisory Board has worked with the Historic District Commission and staff from the Planning Department on a design for a new sign to bring it into compliance. Thank you for your consideration. City Auditor CITY OF MELROSE AUDITOR’SCity Hall, OFFICE 562 Main Street Melrose, Massachusetts 02176 Telephone - (781) 979-4110 Fax - (781) 662-2182 Free Cash Orders for Fiscal Year 2026 “Free cash” is a term used to describe any remaining, unrestricted funds from the previous fiscal years. After it is “certified” by the state, free cash use requires a recommendation from the Mayor and an appropriation from the City Council. More information on free cash is available on the state’s website (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/free-cash). Council Order Item APPRO Balance of Free ID Amount Cash Dep/Fund Description Status Certified $5,558,450.00 2026-612 $20,020.00 5,538,430.00 Dept - 162 Poll Pads and a label Printer Approved Fund - 2026-614 $50,000.00 5,488,430.00 2543 Melrose Cultural Council Approved Chamber and City Event 2026-615 $25,000.00 5,463,430.00 Dept - 121 Support Approved 2026-1147 $170,000.00 5,293,430.00 Dept - 423 Sidewalk Plow A&O 2026-1148 $880,000.00 4,413,430.00 Dept- 931 DPW Vehicles A&O 2026-1149 $865,000.00 3,548,430.00 Dept-931 DPW Snow and Ice Deficit A&O Fund - 2026-1150 $244,944.00 3,303,486.00 1620 School Department A&O 2026-1151 $10,000.00 3,293,486.00 Dept- 422 Bike Racks A&O 2026-1145 $9,000.00 Dept - 141 Tax Impact Notices Mailing Submitted 3,284,486.00 2026-1164 $75,000.00 Dept - 175 Housing Production Plan Submitted 3,209,486.00 2026-1165 $70,000.00 Dept - 175 Downtown Parking Study Submitted 3,139,486.00 2026-1169 $30,000.00 Dept - 543 Welcome Home Veterans Sign Submitted 3,109,486.00 Fund – 2026-1170 $150,000.00 Affordable Housing Trust Submitted 2,959,486.00 8270 Boiler replacement and HVAC 2026-1171 $50,000.00 Dept – 693 Submitted 2,909,486.00 controls 2026-1172 $12,193.20 Dept- 300 Vape Detectors MVMMS Submitted 2,897,292.80 2026-1173 $72,180.00 Dept - 300 MHS Band Uniforms Submitted 2,825,112.80 Basketball & Lacrosse 2026-1174 $44,296.32 Dept-300 Submitted 2,780,816.48 Uniforms, Scorer table 2026-1175 $710,000.00 Dept- 401 Ell Pond Park Design Submitted 2,070,816.48 2026-1176 $400,000.00 Dept - 422 Lebanon TIP Project Submitted 1,670,816.48 2026-1177 $20,000.00 Dept - 401 School Signage Submitted 1,650,816.48 2026-1178 $3,000.00 Dept - 162 Census Mailer Submitted 1,647,816.48 *The first three appropriation requests listed were approved at the 4/6/26 City Council meeting. As requests are submitted by the administration and approved by the City Council, the table above will be updated accordingly and shared with subsequent orders. City Auditor CITY OF MELROSE AUDITOR’SCity Hall, OFFICE 562 Main Street Melrose, Massachusetts 02176 Telephone - (781) 979-4110 Fax - (781) 662-2182 Free Cash Orders for Fiscal Year 2026 “Free cash” is a term used to describe any remaining, unrestricted funds from the previous fiscal years. After it is “certified” by the state, free cash use requires a recommendation from the Mayor and an appropriation from the City Council. More information on free cash is available on the state’s website (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/free-cash). Council Order Item APPRO Balance of Free ID Amount Cash Dep/Fund Description Status Certified $5,558,450.00 2026-612 $20,020.00 5,538,430.00 Dept - 162 Poll Pads and a label Printer Approved Fund - 2026-614 $50,000.00 5,488,430.00 2543 Melrose Cultural Council Approved Chamber and City Event 2026-615 $25,000.00 5,463,430.00 Dept - 121 Support Approved 2026-1147 $170,000.00 5,293,430.00 Dept - 423 Sidewalk Plow A&O 2026-1148 $880,000.00 4,413,430.00 Dept- 931 DPW Vehicles A&O 2026-1149 $865,000.00 3,548,430.00 Dept-931 DPW Snow and Ice Deficit A&O Fund - 2026-1150 $244,944.00 3,303,486.00 1620 School Department A&O 2026-1151 $10,000.00 3,293,486.00 Dept- 422 Bike Racks A&O 2026-1145 $9,000.00 Dept - 141 Tax Impact Notices Mailing Submitted 3,284,486.00 2026-1164 $75,000.00 Dept - 175 Housing Production Plan Submitted 3,209,486.00 2026-1165 $70,000.00 Dept - 175 Downtown Parking Study Submitted 3,139,486.00 2026-1169 $30,000.00 Dept - 543 Welcome Home Veterans Sign Submitted 3,109,486.00 Fund – 2026-1170 $150,000.00 Affordable Housing Trust Submitted 2,959,486.00 8270 Boiler replacement and HVAC 2026-1171 $50,000.00 Dept – 693 Submitted 2,909,486.00 controls 2026-1172 $12,193.20 Dept- 300 Vape Detectors MVMMS Submitted 2,897,292.80 2026-1173 $72,180.00 Dept - 300 MHS Band Uniforms Submitted 2,825,112.80 Basketball & Lacrosse 2026-1174 $44,296.32 Dept-300 Submitted 2,780,816.48 Uniforms, Scorer table 2026-1175 $710,000.00 Dept- 401 Ell Pond Park Design Submitted 2,070,816.48 2026-1176 $400,000.00 Dept - 422 Lebanon TIP Project Submitted 1,670,816.48 2026-1177 $20,000.00 Dept - 401 School Signage Submitted 1,650,816.48 2026-1178 $3,000.00 Dept - 162 Census Mailer Submitted 1,647,816.48 *The first three appropriation requests listed were approved at the 4/6/26 City Council meeting. As requests are submitted by the administration and approved by the City Council, the table above will be updated accordingly and shared with subsequent orders.

Transcript

▶ 0:01 Devin Romanul: Good evening. The time is 7:00 PM on Monday- Meeting in progress ... May 18th, 2026. This is a meeting of the Appropriations and Oversight Committee. My name is Devin Romano. Also joining us this evening are Vice Chair Vandiver, Councilors Chen, Jamalooddin, Cole, Abramsky, Park, and President Freeman. This is a notice of quorum for the record. I'm loud today. In accordance with open meeting law, this meeting is being broadcast live on MMTV. At this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to approve without reading the minutes from our most recent meeting on May 14th, 2026. Seeing no objection, those minutes are now approved. I'll now motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment.

▶ 0:49 Devin Romanul: Seeing no objection, we are now open for public comment. This is the portion of the meeting where the public may speak on any items on tonight's agenda. Comments expressing other views on other matters are also welcome. Do we have anyone here for public comment? Good evening. Good evening. Let me just sign the form. And for anyone joining us for public comment, please feel free to give us your name and address. Yeah. Good evening. My name is Robert Driscoll. I reside at 33 Thurston Road in Melrose. As I've told you before, I'm a retired Melrose firefighter, a retired Air Force colonel with 38 years of military service, and the chairman of the Melrose Veterans' Advisory Board for the past 21 years.

▶ 1:44 Thank you for the opportunity to state my support for the Welcome Home sign here in the city of Melrose. I want to give a little history on the sign. It started 20 years ago under the administration of Mayor Dolan. There were many sons and daughters of Melrose returning from deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Mayor Dolan set out to work with the Veterans' Advisory Board and the city's two VFWs to ensure our returning veterans had the support they needed. We held job fairs at Memorial Hall. We passed real estate tax abatements for those deployed, held town halls with the VA to enroll members into the VA system, opened the doors providing free membership to the VFWs, and

▶ 2:31 put on the lawn of City Hall a Welcome Home sign to let these veterans know their community was proud of their service and grateful they returned home. To our older veterans of World War II, Korea, and especially Vietnam, the sign was and is today a symbol of correcting mistakes of the past for when they returned from foreign lands, and they were ungraciously greeted when they returned home. John Webster, who's a Vietnam veteran and a former veteran service officer in Malden, told us when he was in Malden, he received many calls in his office asking why Malden did not have a Welcome Home sign. Melrose has always been a leader in the Commonwealth for taking care of its veterans. About three years ago, we found

▶ 3:18 out that the Downtown Historic Commission had sign regulations for which the Welcome Home sign did not meet. We have been working with Mayor Gregoritis to meet these requirements. We are very much appreciative of the support from Mayor Jen, as well as Lauren, her chief of staff. As we work out the Historic Commission's requirements, we ask the support of the City Council to keep the Welcome Home sign part of Melrose's veteran history. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other members of the public? All right. Do we have anybody online? No one online. All right. Thank you so much. Well, at this time, I'll motion by unanimous consent to close the floor for public comment. Seeing no objections, we are now closed for public comment.

▶ 4:15 Jen Grigoraitis: All right. We got a big night tonight. We got a full council agenda later this evening. So starting off, we have a revenues overview. And joining us this evening are Mayor Gregoritis and CFO Golden. Thank you both so much for coming to visit with us. I think those folks realized they were looking for the planning board, which is upstairs. Good evening, Chair Romanul and councilors. Thank you for having us tonight, and welcome to the FY27 budget. So this is something we added last year to the process and are really grateful to be back again, which is to provide you all with an overview of the revenue side of the ledger. Obviously, your purview is on the expenditure side, but it's helpful to know what's

▶ 4:58 coming in and how we get to the number that we have as you decide where funds get allocated. So I'm going to turn it over to CFO Carrie Golden to walk you through the information that's before you. Great. Thanks for having me again this year to do this. I think it was pretty well-received last year when we walked through all of the things. And it's helpful for you all as you are deliberating the budgets, and we thought it was just important to give a high-level overview, and answer some of the questions that department heads out there before you might not be able to answer. So in the packet in front of you, this is pretty similar to what I did last year on revenues. So obviously, the largest revenue source is our real

▶ 5:45 estate and personal property taxes. That makes up about 76% of the budget this year. And as you can see in the middle column, you can see the $13.5 million override. So there's a couple things that go into the personal property. So first of all, the levy limitAs a whole, can never raise more than 2.5% outside of a debt exclusion or new growth. And so if you look, our levy limit for fiscal 2027, the starting point is essentially the ending point from last year, the $93,535,000. Sometimes they come back, the Department of Local Services, and they'll amend our growth from the prior year. And so that's why the starting point is a little different, and it also captures the excess levy capacity that we may

▶ 6:41 not capture on a given year. But the 2.5% increase is $2.3 million. And so with the override, the 13.5, I think that brought in-- I had it written down and I can't find my bullet, but I think it brings in an extra $325,000 per year in taxes. And then as far as new growth, we always estimate conservatively. We've kind of kept it at $500,000. For the five-year average, we're about $800,000. Oddly enough, the past three years have come in at like $772,000, $770,000 and $780,000. And so new growth, there's some definitions on the next page, but it's really capturing any new construction in the community, home renovations. Those are what we consider new growth. This year, for fiscal 2027, we will realize

▶ 7:47 some additional funding for the debt exclusion. And as you can see, the city of Melrose currently has two debt exclusions. One is for the middle school. That was voted in May of 2003, and the last year of that will be fiscal 2029. And so the public safety debt exclusion. Right now for FY27, there is about $57.5 million that's been borrowed so far for phase one, and some of that has been banned and some of it has been bonded. And so one is temporary financing, a ban is temporary financing, and a bond is permanently financing. The treasurer collector and I work closely with Hilltop Securities, our bond council, on advisement as to how to layer that and incorporate that into the budget. So as you can see,

▶ 8:45 this is our largest revenue source, and you can see the growth from fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2027 as a percentage. I think last year it was closer to maybe 78% of the budget, and now I'm saying that the opposite, 74%, and now it's at 76%. And so these are just terms because I know there's a lot of confusion around Prop 2.5 and property taxes going up. So the levy as a whole for the community can only go up 2.5%, and then that's distributed based on formulas that the assessor does. And these are just some of the terms that I highlighted on the previous page. And so in fiscal 2029, the middle school debt exclusion, it's a very small portion of debt. I want to say it's about $110,000 that will remain.

▶ 9:40 So really it's '27, '28, and then we'll have that small portion in 2029. The next largest revenue source is the often referred to as the cherry sheet, or state aid. Last year, this was about 19% of our budget. This year it's 17%. And so the budget is based on the Senate's budget. We were able to capture the most recent numbers. I think they came out April 16th, and we were able to incorporate those into the budget. So there is a discrepancy, and the same thing happened with the schools the last year, where their appropriation doesn't match ours because they're going to get that additional Chapter 70 that came in. Chapter 70 is the largest component of that, and that is aid that must go directly to the schools.

▶ 10:37 As far as state aid, we look at net state aid, and so from FY25 to FY26, net state aid grew about 0.7%. This year it's a little bit better. From '26 to '27, it's about 3.5%. And so when we say net state aid, the first page of a cherry sheet is always the revenue. And then the second page, which is on page five, are the assessments. And so sometimes you might see more coming in in Chapter 70, but then the charter school sending tuition also increases as well. So you'll see the offset there. And so that's why we always look at the net state aid figure. Local receipts. This is about 6% to 7% of our budget. This is where the municipality has the most control to set fees or accept taxes from the state level. So for example, the meals

▶ 11:47 excise tax, I believe that was passed in 2009, and we adopted that right away in October of 2009. So it's 0.75% if you dine locally. The cannabis excise tax, that's a more recent one on retail, and we adopted that in probably the past six or seven years.And there is a special fund where 50% of the excise tax goes into to fund certain purposes. But as far as local receipts, they're very dependent on the economy and everything that's going on in the economy. So if people scale back, it tends to affect these receipts. And just supply chain and all of those things. So, motor vehicle excise, if there's no cars and the supply chain is running out, then people aren't going to be able to buy them. One of the other largest sources is

▶ 12:56 building permits. And again, that's very driven on the market and if people can do renovations, take out home equity lines. And we've seen in the past couple of years with the higher interest rates, people may be less apt to do that. And then just one of the biggest swings is investment income, because that depends on how much cash flow we have and also the market. So we don't rely too much on investment income and really when you see the estimates, you can see that because that's set by the interest rates, but also we know that cash at some point will disappear because we have a higher cash flow right now for project money and whatnot. And the same thing happened when we had ARPA funding. We had an influx of $8.4 million that we got to

▶ 13:56 use over a number of years. So that sits. Our treasurer collector is excellent about trying to get the most return on investment and diversifying within the purview of mass general law. And so then the smallest funding source of the budget is, it's often referred to as OFS or other funding source. It's about 2%. And the funds here are for a very specific purpose, and they're appropriated for a specific purpose. So, the first one is cemetery sale of lots and graves. So when someone purchases a grave, a portion of that grave goes into perpetual care and a portion goes into sale of lots and graves. The sale of lots and graves is for the maintenance and to cover the cemetery budget. Parking receipts,

▶ 14:51 same thing there. That covers the parking budget as well as two enforcement officers that reside in the police department budget, and that's the parking at the MBTA lots throughout Melrose. The debt exclusion that was passed in 2003 for the middle school, there was bond premium that was received at that time, and this $33,000 has been amortized over the past 20 years. So that comes off of what we raise in the tax levy. And so this is the Public Safety, Health, and Education Fund. That is the cannabis excise tax fund. So as the market has become more saturated, we've seen the revenues in that go down as well. But we use this every year to offset the budget. There's very specific purposes. And

▶ 15:49 Mount Hood in, I don't know what year it was, maybe 2010, Mount Hood had a special act under Mayor Dolan to pay for the debt on our fields. So I think that debt was refunded last year and it's over at the high school complex. And I think I can send a snippet of that special legislation, but it's budgeted in the general fund, and we transfer this money from Mount Hood to cover that cost of debt. And then the next three funds are our enterprise funds, and so really indirect costs. That is to cover costs that are budgeted in the general fund on behalf of those funds. That would be health insurance for all the employees and their pension, any type of benefits, and then just an overall assessment of

▶ 16:52 the computer software, the property and casualty and liability insurance. And then the overlay, it's often referred to as allowance for abatement and exemptions or overlay. This is a funding source that we carve aside for abatements to taxes and whatnot. And every year, the assessor and the board of assessors evaluate it, and that can be used to offset some of the costs in their budget. And so they vote to release that. On page eight, I talked through all of that, but these are all the purposes of all those different monies and the budget number that it coincides with. So, perpetual care, that would cover cemetery 491. Same thing with sale of lots and graves. So those are the budget numbers that you vote

▶ 17:52 on. And so on page nine, this is just a high-level overview of all the revenues and all of the categories. And I just took that and gave a snapshot and broke that information down per category so you can see the growth year over year in each budget.And this is often how we report the different budgets. We roll them up into these categories. And so you can see big movement with health insurance, schools, and a decrease in DPW because they're going to get less capital funding next year. And just to be clear, too, the fiscal year 2026 recap, that is the supplemental budget. That includes the override. And so then this just really shows when we get to the end how the budget balances. There's two offsets. So again, it's the overlay.

▶ 19:01 So we have to budget when abatements and exemptions are approved, and I think most recently, the veterans exemption that came before city council. Those exemptions are taken out of the overlay. So property tax work off that program, that comes out of the overlay, as well as individuals who take their property assessments to the appellate tax board. And then the offsets, on the cherry sheet, the library gets state aid, and then it goes right back out. So it's really a zero a neutral, because that aid goes into a separate fund specific for the library. So this is how we arrive at the balanced budget, and I probably oversimplified that, but does anyone have any questions or... Councilor Burke.

▶ 19:59 Thank you, Carrie- Mm-hmm ... for that- Yeah ... overview. Just as this being my first go-around, so the 2025 actual is pretty self-explanatory. 2026 recap is basically the 2026, but our fiscal year ends on June 30th, which means that this is still an estimate. Is that correct? So this just shows how we arrived at the balanced budget for last year. So you can see the growth year over year. It's easiest to do a benchmark. So every year after the budget is done, then we'll come before you to certify the tax rate. Mm-hmm. The assessor will come in October, and so this was the final recap budget that was voted by DLS to set the tax rate. And so I just use this as a benchmark to show growth. I can give you actuals

▶ 20:58 year to date, as well. I don't have them on me, but I can share those if it's helpful. I'd like to see them at some point. I don't know how far off these recaps are from what the actuals end up being, but it'd be interesting. I guess the other question I had was it's concerning to see the local receipts categorically all be down in 2026. I don't know if 2025, the 402,000 for penalties and interest on taxes and excise as opposed to 214,000, is that people were delinquent in 2025 in their penalties, or does that mean that people aren't buying stuff in 2026? Yeah. What accounts for such a big discrepancy like that? So it's two things. Okay. So when you estimate local receipts- Mm-hmm ... DLS best practice is to estimate local

▶ 22:02 receipts so you have free cash. So free cash is generated through two things. It's generated through departmental turn backs and surplus revenue. And so DLS wants you to budget so you generate anywhere between 3% to 5% of your operating budget in free cash. And so these estimates reflect 80% to 85% of the actuals. And the other part with penalties on interest and taxes- ... the law changed, and the interest rate changed a couple of years ago. I want to say it changed from 16% to 8%. I can get the facts on that, but that also accounts for some of the changes there. But when we're looking at local receipts, you don't want to budget every dollar going out. Right. You want to budget a percentage of that.

▶ 23:03 Elizabeth Kowal: And so when I'm looking at the estimates, I only have 25 here. I usually look at three years. So I looked at '23, '24, and '25, got an average of those three years, and then I take a percentage of that. I see. Okay. Okay, thank you. Yep. Up next, I have Councilor Kowal. Hi. And you said it, and I just could be missing it. I'm looking at the public works. What accounted for the large jump between '25 to '26 and then the decrease? You said something about capital. I just want to make sure I understand. And is there a chance that they're going... Again, because it may not seem like a lot, but for $4 million, $5 million could be a lot. So what is accounting for that growth? Sure. So part of the supplemental budget was

▶ 23:56 bathroom renovations at the high school- Oh, okay ... as well as parks and fields. There was a couple playground projects as well as field projects. So those are part of FY26, but then that money was redistributed- Got it ... as part of FY27. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Other councilors?Vice Chair Bender Just wanted to say thank you for this really detailed, thorough, clear presentation. Really appreciate the work that you put into this. Good. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Pinocchio? I also want to say thank you for taking the time to do this. Yep. Now we can just do your job because you explained it so well. Yeah. So, thanks a bunch. So, thanks. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Well, I really appreciate the very helpful overview, as do the good

▶ 24:48 Jen Grigoraitis: people of Melrose. Moving right along, we have next on our agenda, Department 121, the Office of the Mayor. You're staying? And here we have- I'm staying, yes ... the mayor. I'm staying, but the chief of staff is joining me as well. Thank you. Chief Grimmett? Do you want to start? Okay. Thank you for having us tonight. So, I think everyone has gotten our four-page memo, and you interface a lot with myself and the mayor's office, so I don't want to read the whole thing. But just especially for some of the new councilors, besides the mayor and myself, we have Tom Dalton, who's our communications and events manager, and a part-time, 12 hours a week, executive assistant to the mayor. Those kind of seats have always existed in the mayor's office but have had

▶ 25:35 Jen Grigoraitis: different titles over the years. So my predecessor's title was director of strategic initiatives or something like that. There's been a director of community outreach. So, the bodies, or different bodies, different seats, different titles, but the mayor's always been staffed by two and a half people. We do a lot of constituent services and events, taking calls, taking walk-ins. A lot of our walk-ins and kind of calls are luckily fielded by property tax work-off folks. So, thanks to the good work of the Council on Aging, we're able to take advantage of that, and I've really built up a robust roster of folks so that I'm not constantly answering the phones and telling people how to recycle a mattress, which I'm happy to do in case

▶ 26:19 Jen Grigoraitis: y'all need to know how to do that. But we really rely on those folks to fill the gap of not having a full-time executive assistant. And when you press 0 when you call the city hall, it comes to our office, so we're constantly fielding a lot of different calls and people that walk in. So besides those kind of constituent services, we did a lot of events last year, Slice in the City, new welcome to new residents. We hope to do those again, and we'll invite you as councilors to the Slice in the City, as well as having the mayor go out into the senior houses, so kind of bringing city hall out to the people, if you will, and really trying to engage with folks. For those people that don't want to come to events, we have a robust communications

▶ 27:01 Jen Grigoraitis: strategy website, which is housed and fully run through the mayor's office through Tom Dalton. Press releases, weekly emails, social media. If you don't know what's going on in Melrose and you don't read the Melrose Weekly News, then that's shame on you because I think we have a lot of stuff that City Hall pushes out, especially through the mayor's office. And then we take on special initiatives and projects at the mayor's request. So you're all really familiar with the capital improvement planning process that we just wrapped up. Thanks to Councilor Park for sticking with us for those couple of months through that process and all of those meetings. We were also the lead for the MAPC Technical Assistance

▶ 27:39 Jen Grigoraitis: Grant, which is helping to write a strategic plan for Memorial Hall, which you all will get to understand what that's going to be about in the upcoming budget hearings. So those types of things, they're one-offs. They kind of live with the mayor's office and kind of run through me at the mayor's direction. And so building off of that into fiscal '27, we'll continue to engage residents specifically through a sustainability commission that's been part of the mayor's vision for the city. And then a birth to five, bringing that back. It was a committee that was formed under Mayor Dolan, really intended to reach those families that have younger kids that haven't gotten to school age yet, to kind of engage them in programming and community

▶ 28:22 Jen Grigoraitis: outreach and help them feel like they're part of a fabric of the community. And so those are kind of the things we do on a regular basis, things we have coming up. I don't know if there's highlights that I've missed that you wanted to talk about. I think just as we look back on fiscal '26, obviously the education around the override was a huge effort by our office, pushing out information to the public for folks to understand their options, what the consequences of those choices were, how to vote. That was really a big undertaking. Then obviously, we moved directly into both the supplemental budget, which is not-- Typically, you don't do another budget middle of the year. So both the planning for that, which was done with a really quick turnaround, and

▶ 29:05 Jen Grigoraitis: I want to particularly thank Kerry Golden for that work and department heads, and then also communicating that to stakeholders, including the council, the school committee, and the public. Obviously, this is the first time where I've been the mayor and we've had new elected officials where I wasn't also new. So working with President Freeman and School Committee Chair Kelley to get our new city councilors and school committee members oriented to the best of our ability to the role and to working with the city and the schools was another big undertaking, the CIP. And then really continuing to provide ongoing education about the impact of the override. So that is something we're very keenly aware of and will be moving

▶ 29:42 Jen Grigoraitis: forward with as you start to see projects coming online, is that 60% of our voters said yes to providing more tax revenue. 40% did not, and they still have to pay those bills. And so we want to make sure folks are understanding where that money is going and are really visually seeing the impact. I spend a lot of time getting to speak with other mayors throughout the state. We are one of few communities right now that is not in the process of making budget cuts. I think that's something that we should collectively all be really proud of. I'm grateful to the public for putting us in the position that we're in, so that will continue to be an ongoing effort. And then in addition to engaging, obviously, with the public and with you all as

▶ 30:21 Jen Grigoraitis: local elected officials, we are heavily involved and are sort of the hub for interaction with both our state and federal delegations. So that's funding opportunities, policy developments that may impact the city. So we meet monthly with our state delegation. We check in regularly with our federal delegation. I'm a member of the Metro Mayors Coalition through the Mass. area ... through the MAPC, which represents over, I think there's two million residents that are encompassed in those communities. I'm also a member of the Mayor's Coalition through MMA, which encompasses mayors throughout the state. So really trying to make sure that we're engaged with our peer groups, that we're also constantly aware of what is happening on a policy

▶ 31:00 and budget level, and how that may impact Melrose, and how we can advocate for change that's going to positively impact our residents. So, that's what we do, or try to do every day. Wonderful. Thank you so much. First, I have Councilor Finocchiaro. Oh, I'm first in line. All right, great. Wonderful. Thank you. Can you just talk about the website? Yeah. So, last fiscal year, that cost moved into this department. Previously, it was under the clerk and the clerk of committees. And so when we redid the website about a year ago, it's newer than what it was. We were able to use a small allocation of ARPA funds to cover some of the costs to get that new website up and running. And so what you see budgeted is the full cost of a full year for the

▶ 31:46 Cal Finocchiaro: website. Okay, great. And Tom Dalton is the webmaster, so managing that. Department heads manage their own webpages, but he does the whole website in the back end and helps department heads. Great. Yep. And I'm assuming, I know non-union employees did not get any sort of raise, if it was last year or the year before. Two years ago. So in the FY25 budget, the 60 non-union city side employees received no compensation adjustment, whereas everyone on the school side and all the union folks did. But last year we did do- Cost of living ... cost of living increases, and we have those in there again for this year. Okay. And I know there was an increase for your salary that you did not take. So the increase to the salaries is over the, is

▶ 32:27 Bradley Freeman: it five employees? We have myself, Tom Dalton, and Diane McDonald. Okay. So, all right. Just wanted to... Okay. Thank you. Welcome. President Freeman. Yeah. Thank you very much. I want to first just thank both the mayor and Lauren for all you did for the new councilors when we came in. Your onboarding of us was very helpful. I just want to note, I really appreciate you increasing the professional services line item. I think the communication around the override is so critically important and really sharing those success stories, as the mayor pointed out with the 60% that voted with for this, but also the 40% that didn't. So I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the enhanced and further

▶ 33:04 communications from your office about that. And so I just want to really thank you for recommending that increase, and that's something I fully support. Thank you. Other councilors? President Freeman. I will then make a motion to move to the bottom line. Motion to move to the bottom line made by President Freeman, second by Councilor Jamaleddine. On discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Sure. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Coleman? Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Hoff? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor? Motion passes. All right. The motion passes. Thank you.

▶ 33:49 We will move that to the bottom line. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Moving right along. Up next, item number 543, veteran services. I'm joined by Tammy Shovelton. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Sorry, I just had to verify something. I apologize. No worry. Thank you. So, I just want to go over really quickly what my office does and what it's done over the year. Since you guys did get the memo, so I won't go into everything individually. But I did want to just highlight, that my office does administer all of aspects of Chapter 115. We do work on VA claims as well as VA appeals. We do vet benefit review meetings with the community.

▶ 34:48 We're integral in Veterans Day and Memorial Day activities here in Melrose. We run a monthly food mart, as well as we do upkeep all of the monuments within the city. So those are just some of the things that we've done, that we do on a sort of yearly basis. This past year, some of the things that we've done that I would like to highlight. One, we moved our offices, because we used to be in Milano and now we're here, which is great. We're getting ready tomorrow, not tomorrow, Wednesday, we're going to have the rededication of the Otis W. Bishop Monument Park. So we were able to replace that plaque, which someone had stolen at some point. But it's okay because it's replaced now and it's beautiful, and we're having a

▶ 35:32 rededication on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30. If you would like to join us, there will be cookies and lemonade. We also do outreach events. It's very important in this office that we are out there with the community, with the veterans, with the dependents, with the family members, so that they understand what benefits they're eligible for, not just from the City of Melrose or the State of Massachusetts, but what federal benefits they're eligible for, too. So our outreach events are really important. This year, since I started in July, we've worked on 77 veteran disability claims and appeals. We currently have 16 veterans or families as part of our Chapter 115 program. We've kicked off last month our monthly veteran and family socials, and we'll do

▶ 36:17 those once a month at Memorial Hall. And as you all know, because you were instrumental in passing our, codifying our veteran tax workoff program. So those are just some of the things that we've done recently. In reference to the budget, I just want to say that you are going to see an increase in some of the line items from the budget, and those increases may seem substantial, but that's simply because they weren't there before, because they were taken out in leaner times. And because of the override, we were able to add those things back into our budget, which is really important to us. So you are going to see an increase in things such as mileageWar memorials, education, events, and you'll always

▶ 36:57 see an increase in our Chapter 115 benefits. We increased that this year by 10%, which we think is a really safe place to be. With the Chapter 115 benefits, we have to pay those regardless of whether the money's in the budget or not. So it's always helpful to make sure that we are putting that budget a little bit higher so that if anything happens, if we get new families, if we have new expenses within that, we can make sure to cover them without having to come back to you and ask for more money. So, any questions? None for me, besides Wednesday 1:30 for free cookies. My big takeaway. Any councilors with questions? Councilor Chen. Yes. So, thanks Tammy. To clarify, the Chapter 115 benefits is the state benefits that are paid to Melrose and then we pay that out,

▶ 37:46 and we have to budget a line item for it. So yeah. So we pay the benefits out- Mm-hmm ... and then the state reimburses us 75% back to us into the general fund. But we pay it first and then we're refunded, we're repaid back on the end. Okay. And approximately what amount of federal funds, VA benefits, do you help our veterans get in addition to the state Chapter 115 funding? So, I don't keep track of how much the veterans or their dependents receive in their benefits. I just simply help them to apply for them. Just recently, I can say, like I said, I have done over 77 claims since I started in July. Most of those claims have been approved, so veterans are receiving anywhere from an extra $200 a month up

▶ 38:34 to $5,000 a month that they wouldn't have had before. Thank you so much. Other councilors? President Freeman. Thank you so much. I note the mileage increase, and obviously that means more home visits. Can you just explain what you're doing during the home visits, and is it going to help veterans with their disability claims? What do those entail? So, the mileage entails home-- You're right, it does entail home visits. Home visits, there are veterans that are just not capable of coming to my office, either for physical reasons or mental health reasons. They just can't do it. And so this allows me to go to their homes, to sit with them and figure out what programs work best for them, whether that's

▶ 39:21 helping them file for Chapter 115 or file for federal benefits from VA. But in addition to that, we also have my veterans, the Bedford Hospital has a hospice unit as well as a long-term care unit. So I have some veterans from Melrose that are currently in-hospital and long-term, and so I will go visit them. Also, whenever my veterans have passed away, I go to their wakes, I go to their funerals, and a lot of times that's driving to Bourne or to Winchendon, or to Agawam, which are the state and federal cemeteries, or other cemeteries throughout the state. So the mileage really depends on what's happening. And then also the mileage also helps to take care of things like when I have to go to training. A lot of my training is done in the Cape or it's

▶ 40:14 done somewhere in the state, not necessarily nearby, and so I need to be able to drive to do those things as well. And then also at Christmas time, the vet center in Worcester does free toys and free jackets, like new everything. And I just put in an order and I go and pick it up, and I get all the free stuff and bring it back here and give it to all of our veterans. So we use the mileage for all of those types of things. Thank you. That is all wonderful services. So thank you very much. You're welcome. Councilor Chen. Yes. A question about the 77 disability claims that you were able to get for our veterans since you just started. Mm-hmm. I don't expect 77 veterans moved into Melrose, and then-- So should they have been maybe receiving claims for a

▶ 41:00 long period of time, and you were able to advise them to? So veterans are a fickle group of people. Some veterans will not ever file a claim, or they will wait until they are in dire straits. One of my veterans is 102. He never filed a VA claim in his life because he didn't need it, till he did. And so his son contacted me and said, "Can you help my father? He needs care at the home. He needs this, and that, and the other thing." And so we filed a claim for him. We got him in-home care. We got him brand-new hearing aids and things like that. And he's lived here, he bought his house when he got back from World War II. Mm. So he's lived his whole life in this community. But not every veteran will come to the office

▶ 41:48 or go on their own behest to get their benefits. What recently we're seeing, or I'm seeing in my office, is family members of aging veterans coming in and saying, "I have an aging veteran that needs help. How do I get that?" And so we're doing that. Some of the claims that I'm working on are people who have previously had claims and now they're looking for increases in their benefits, or they have new issues, or they're appealing a previous issue that they had. So it's not necessarily all new ones, and it's not that they didn't have the ability to get help before, it's just that they weren't necessarily looking for it or using it. Like I said, veterans are very one way or the other. Other councilors?

▶ 42:40 Devin Romanul: Councilor Finocchiaro. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I was just going to make a motion to move to the bottom line. I second. Second. Motion made to move to the bottom line by Councilor Finocchiaro, second by Councilor Chen on discussion. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor? Motion passes. All right. The motion passes. We'll move then to the bottom line of the FY27 budget. Director Shelton, if you will, mind joining us or taking a brief recess,

▶ 43:18 Bradley Freeman: and joining us on the other side for a second. For the members of the viewing audience, we are at 7:45. We have to briefly recess to gavel in and gavel out of our full council meeting. So we'll be back after these messages. Typically, where did that come from? This question was asked here last year. Sorry. Yeah. Good evening. The time is 7:45 on Monday, May 18th. I'm Council President Freeman. This meeting of the Melrose City Council is called to order. In accordance with the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, this meeting is being broadcast and recorded by the Melrose Cable Access TV, and will be available for viewing in its entirety on MMTV and through the city website. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

▶ 46:09 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you so much for your patience. Up next, we have item 2607, the Veteran Services revolving account. Hello. Do you have any further insight to add to the status and operations of the Veterans revolving account? I really don't. Oh, Councilor Jamaleddine. Chair Romanul, it's usually self-explanatory, and I do appreciate all the work that you've done for our veterans. And it's not gone unnoticed how much our veterans are benefiting from your service and excellence in the work that you do. Is it moving to bottom line or make a motion to approve? A motion to approve made by Councilor Jamaleddine. Second. Seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

▶ 47:23 Devin Romanul: Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor? Motion passes. All right. The motion is approved. Thank you so much. And out of respect for our guest, since we-- I have to- Right. Exactly. It's ID number. Right. We'll take it out of order. I was going to motion by unanimous consent to take ID number 2026-1169, an appropriation from free cash in account number 01324001 to the Veteran Services Department 543 in the amount of $30,000 to design and fabricate a new Welcome Home veteran sign for the city out of order. Seeing no objection,

▶ 48:11 we will now hear that item. Okay. So the Welcome Home sign, I'm sure you've noticed there's a sign out on the front walkway. That Welcome Home sign began being used after 9/11 to welcome home veterans and military members who had been deployed. This sign means a great deal to the veteran community here in Melrose. As you heard Bob Driscoll speak earlier, it really is for them a way of-- I don't like this phrase because you can't go back and change what happened in the past. You can only learn from it and move forward. But for the veterans of this community, that sign really represents to them a way of honoringVietnam veterans who came home and who were spat on and treated poorly and weren't able to wear their uniform

▶ 49:09 when they returned to this country. And so, that sign means a great deal to them as a symbol of never letting something like that happen to any future generation of military veteran or service member. So, that sign is very important. It came to my understanding that the sign, not approved by the Veterans' Advisory Board, but at some point, someone, I don't really know who, put a permanent sign up. They did not go through the proper procedures, which would be to go to the Historic District Commission, get it approved through them, get a permit, and everything like that. So, once it came to my attention that that hadn't been done, I have been working with the Veterans' Advisory Board and the Historical District Commission,

▶ 49:55 as well as the Planning Department, to figure out how we can rectify this situation. And the best way to rectify the situation is to have a new sign built. So, we hired a design company to design a new sign, and the Historic District Commission has approved. They love the sign. It's very beautiful. And so, what we're asking for is $30,000 to have the sign built and installed. Now, having said that, we are pur- That's a very hard word for me to say. Procurement. Procru- procur- Procurement. Procurement laws. Thank you. Anything that's going to be over $10,000, we have to get a minimum of three bids. After talking to many different sign companies and getting an understanding of what we were looking for, we

▶ 50:48 were told a sign of what we were doing would cost somewhere between $15,000 and $30,000. So, what we're asking for is the $30,000, understanding that more than likely, we're not going to spend $30,000. But what we don't want to do is say, "Oh, we'll take $10,000," and then in a couple of weeks, once I have all of the bids in, I've got to come back to you and say, "Well, unfortunately, that $10,000 just really isn't enough. And now in order to move forward, I need to get some more money." So, we thought the best way to do everything was to ask for the full amount of what it potentially could be in hopes that our bids will come in under that $30,000. And so, that's what we're asking for today.

▶ 51:34 Jason Chen: Terrific. Thank you very much. Up first, I have Councilor Chen. Oh. Yes. So, when I first heard about the sign and I looked outside at what I thought was an okay sign, I actually didn't think we needed to spend money on it. And I asked my wife, who's also a veteran, who's like, "I don't know, honey. Would you spend $30,000 replacing a sign? And how would this look to the public?" And we both decided, yeah, it doesn't seem like a great use of money. And then I went to the Veterans' Service Advisory Board meetings and I heard Bob and the other veterans talk about this, and it finally hit me that the sign really isn't for them. They don't need to see the sign as much walking around. They really want the sign for some

▶ 52:21 Jason Chen: future soldier coming back who doesn't have to go through what they did and how they had to support all their people and watch people suffer from PTSD and not get the help they needed, and then, in some cases, commit suicide. So, they want us to never have to experience that again, and they think that a sign will kind of just remind us. A good sign that's permanent, that isn't temporary or being chased off the lawn, will actually hold the line for all future generations. So, that I didn't have to experience that and didn't think that it was needed, that's the whole point of making sure that a sign, that no one has to experience that. So, I don't know, Tammy, did I get that right in- Yes ... how I'm thinking of that? So, I kind of changed my perspective.

▶ 53:05 Jason Chen: Yes, I agree that if they're trying to teach us something with the sign, then we should listen, and it's worth some amount of money. And I did go out and get some quotes, and I confirm you can purchase a sign with two granite posts, six to seven feet wide for someone will charge you $30,000 for it. I also got a quote for around $9,000 from a local sign, so I think somewhere $10,000 to $15,000 is reasonable. Tammy and Lauren and I have been talking. Would it be possible to allocate something lower? I'm totally confident that we can get a good sign for in the $12,000 to $15,000 range but then still have $15,000 to allocate to another pressing free cash account or a capital improvement plan account. So, to that end,

▶ 53:51 Jason Chen: I think we can compromise and meet all needs if we were to appropriate $15,000. And in the small chance that we couldn't do that, then we would be able to appropriate more and make sure that they had the money to have the sign sometime this year. So, I'm not going to make a motion yet to reduce it to $15,000, but I wanted to hear the discussion from others and give the city a chance to respond. So, in response to what Councilor Chen is saying, while I can appreciate Councilor Chen doing some legwork to find out what a sign would cost, I think that without the design, without a sign company knowing what they're getting into and what they're doing, any quote that you may have received is not going

▶ 54:41 to be an accurate depiction of what we're actually doing. A sign company needs to have the design. They need to have the numbers. They need to know what's being engraved, what's not being engraved, what's being painted, what's aluminum, what's high density foam. And so, I think the procurementGot it. You got it. You said it. Just keep going. Thank you. You're good. Process is there for us to do this. That's what the minimum three bids is to make sure that we are getting the best possible price. And the point of doing three is to make sure that we don't just get one bid that's $30,000, that we get three different bids that may be at varying prices that we can look at and say, "Okay, these are all exactly the same, and this one is the lowest, and that's

▶ 55:31 the one we're going to go with." Right? Because the whole point is not to go with the highest bid. And again, like I said, asking for the full 30,000 is allowing us to make sure that whatever that bid comes into, we will have the money to pay for it. Because at the end of the day, even though we have a bid and we have prices, everyone knows whenever you do a project, there's always extra things that come up. Things go wrong, things get broke. You need this permit, you need that permit. We thought we could drill one way, now we have to drill a different way. Now it's going to cost more money. And so knowing when we go into a project that we have that buffer zone is really imperative, because what if we did get a bid that was

▶ 56:12 10,000 and then somewhere along the line as we're going through it, a problem does come up, and they do have to drill a different way, or they do need extra permits or extra manpower? Then they're going to need more money, and we're going to be in the middle of a project, and I can't go to a contractor and say, "Well, I'm sorry, I can't pay you. I have to go to the city council and I must ask for more money first." That is not a good look for me, and that is not a good look for Melrose. What I'd like to be able to do is make sure that if any of those situations do come up, that we already have the money and we can pay for it. Like I said, the idea is not to spend the whole 30,000, it's to make sure

▶ 56:50 that we have the money for the project in full so it can be done right for Melrose. So it can be done according to the Historic District Commission rules and regulations, and so that it will be there for many generations to come. Thank you. I just want to add a point of clarification that if we don't utilize the 30,000, it'll roll back to next year's free cash. And that's with every free cash appropriation that's come before you all. If anything comes under, it just rolls into next year's fund balance to start us off for the next free cash amount. Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate that. Up next, I have Councilor Finocchiaro. Thank you. I'm only second . Thank you for being here.

▶ 57:33 Cal Finocchiaro: So I think our job as city council is to look at each appropriation that comes in here and to be good stewards of the money that the city residents are paying their taxes and we just went over this whole thing with Carrie Golden. So I also originally looked at the $30,000, and I was like, "Oh, wow, for a sign?" Because trying to just be a little cautious about where we're putting money. But I'm in design field, and after your explanation, it does make sense that there are going to be a range of bids and the fact that the Historical District Commission- Mm-hmm ... is involved, I'm sure that's going to change sort of the scope of work because Downtown Melrose has to have a certain look. The signs have to have a certain look, and so that

▶ 58:29 Cal Finocchiaro: will kind of change. You're not just going to be able to plop something out there, which we're trying to remedy, actually, because something was just kind of plopped out there. So I appreciate your discussion because you gave me more information and explaining where the $30,000... And like you're saying, it might not be the full 30,000, it could be 18 or 20 or whatever. So just wanted to say that I appreciate your explanation and thank you. Next I have President Freeman. Thank you very much. And as a son of a Vietnam veteran, I want to thank you for pursuing this. My dad told me stories of coming home from Vietnam and the treatment he had, and I think we can all remember, I think two meetings ago,

▶ 59:14 Bradley Freeman: we had a Melrose resident here whose father also served in Vietnam, and he spoke very passionately about efforts the city has taken to acknowledge that and to remember him, and he was very proud to be in Melrose, in light of how we're trying to treat our veterans here. I do just want to address one thing that the chair, that Councilor Chen had said regarding a smaller appropriation now and then a secondary appropriation if needed down the road. I do think we need to be mindful of timing here. Free cash requests have to be approved by the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30th. We only have two or three full council meetings left. If this bid process takes a month, we're not meeting after June

▶ 59:53 Bradley Freeman: 15th, so there will not be an opportunity to have that come before us, which as you pointed out, if then all of a sudden the design does run into complications or there are problems with installation and some of the additional money is needed, we may not be able to provide that. So given what Ms. Grimmick said, that any unused funds from this project would revert back to free cash for subsequent fiscal years, I am strongly supportive of moving forward with the request as presented, recognizing that you're going to be a very good steward of that money and get three bids and get the best possible deal for the city, while doing so in a way that does honor our veterans and provides a meaningful

▶ 1:00:34 Elizabeth Kowal: touchpoint for them in Downtown Melrose. All right. Thank you very much. Up next, Councilor Kowal. So thank you for being here tonight. My question is about timing, but it's a little bit of a different question about timing. I think one of the things that I'm struggling with, and we get a lot of worthy things in front of us, and this is certainly Top, for one of the top for me. I too, similar to Councilor Chen, am struggling a little bit with the cost of it. And I appreciate everything that you said, and I believe everything that you said, and I believe you will be a good steward for the money. But my issue is more around, I feel like what I'm struggling with a little bit is, I wish this had come to us when you had done the

▶ 1:01:13 Elizabeth Kowal: three bids. And so I just want to understand a little bit more of the timing of this and why we don't have the bids yet, and so why you're asking. And I get why you're asking for that amount of money. So I'm just trying to understand a little bit of the timing of this and why it seems, I'm going to use the word rushed, and I don't want you to take that the wrong way. I don't mean that you're doing that at all. But you're asking us to make a decision on a number that we don't really have. Mm-hmm. And as I said, there's a lot of stuff that comes before us that we then have to sort of go back and forth on. So I just want to get a little bit more clarity about that. So, this process has been going on, like I said, I started

▶ 1:01:47 in July, and this process really has been going on since September. Until all three bids are in and we choose one, we cannot disclose the amount of the bid, is my understanding. I spoke with our solicitor this morning. So it's not a matter of public record. I can't disclose anything until we've actually chosen someone and signed a contract. So I wouldn't have a total for you- Right ... because of that. Which is why I've talked with many different people to find out what a good sort of estimate is, low to high. So unfortunately, I just don't have the information. I understand that. I think... May I clarify? I think what I'm asking is, if this started last year, why don't we have... I'm not asking for the numbers, but why don't we have a number yet?

▶ 1:02:34 Why are we still out- Oh, because the- ... with the procurement? Because the design just got approved last month at the Veterans' Advisory Board, and then we just went to the Historic District Commission meeting last week, and so now we're here. So it was, we had to get a design made, that took time. Then the board had to approve it. There were some changes that needed to be made along the way, and so that's sort of where we are with our timeline. And you can't get bids without a finished design. Up next, I have Councilor Jamaleddine. Thank you. So just to clarify, we have already the design, right? Yes, ma'am. So it's all set in terms of the design. Did we pay for the design? Yes. My office paid for the design.

▶ 1:03:26 Okay. So the 30,000, or hopefully less, will be just to make it- Yes, ma'am ... and not to pay for design or anything? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay, thanks. All right. Up next I have Councilor Park. Thank you. This may be a question more for Lauren. When we put things out for bid, three bids minimum for over 10,000, is it like a debt exclusion where we pick the lowest bidder for that particular project? Or do you have your discretion as to which bidder you choose or which des- Yeah, I know typically we pick the lowest bidder. I don't know if there's certain procurement, I know that's for DPW, but I don't know if there's certain procurement rules pertaining to something like this where it's a one-off sign. So I can certainly

▶ 1:04:16 get that question answered, but I don't know off the top of my head. Okay. I know. Oh, even better. I spoke with the solicitor this morning. So the way that it works, it would be, as long as all three bids are exactly the same, meaning the scope of work is exactly the same, the material and everything is exactly the same, we'd have to go with the lowest bidder. However, if in one of the bids, they're using better material or different material that is going to be longer lasting, then at that point we can choose the bid that has the better longevity for the sign. But the way that we put the bid out for this is I've given everyone all of the information, so all bids will be exactly the same. Thank you very much.

▶ 1:05:00 Kimberly Vandiver: Mm-hmm. Terrific. Up next I have Vice Chair Vandiver. Thank you. Through the Chair, I hope my colleague, Councilor Abramski, is thinking of a question so that we can all comment on this one. I appreciate Councilor Chen bringing this up as a process question because we are spending money, and we do a lot of these free cash requests with a similar process where we do allocate more than we might necessarily spend for those reasons. It might go over, there might be various factors that come into play, and the way that we have operated has been in that way where we're hoping that whatever we allocate is going to cover it, and that somebody's not going to have to come back in. I think just from a process perspective, there's

▶ 1:05:48 Kimberly Vandiver: a trade-off there, versus setting a stronger expectation about exactly what we think should be spent on any given topic, versus having to possibly have some more time and steps for people to come back and forth when there are added expenses and things like that. So I think it's a valid question about how much control do we really want to set on these things. But it comes with some possible extra steps, could delay the process. We could even miss the opportunity if we don't get things in by a certain meeting for this year, and then that would end up rolling it to next year because we have to come back or something like that. So, I think for me, the question would be like, if the whole process is gone through, is 30,000 a number that we would feel

▶ 1:06:37 Kimberly Vandiver: uncomfortable to have spent, right? And then that would be why... I think we should go through the process expecting it's anywhere in that large range, unless we truly think we would be upset having spent more than 25,000 or whatever threshold, right? And I know it sounds like a lot for a sign. I flagged it too when it first came across the agenda. At the same time I'm assuming it is really high-quality materials. I'm assuming the Historic District Commission may have some expectations for it that we wouldn't have out of a sign we were doing on any given property. So that's probably driving up the cost a little bit, I would assume. But, not having seen the design and the materials and everything

▶ 1:07:16 Kimberly Vandiver: like that. So I guess, I think that's the question we have is not should we target what we think will be spent and possibly go up a little, but really, what is the max cap we want to set on this? And, I'm open to people's discussion about that, but I'm also comfortable with it as it's here on the agenda. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair Vandiver. Up next for a second time, I have Councilor Ferron-Piro. Thank you. I forgot to ask this earlier. Does this include the installation? Yes. Okay. So they're going to... Is it like footings that they put in or? So this is fabrication and install, so they will have to use cement and put cement footings in, and drill holes and all of that stuff. Okay. Yeah.

▶ 1:07:56 Maya Jamaleddine: And this would be at the same location that it is right now? Potentially. Okay. So around that area. Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you. All right. Up next, I have Councilor Jamaleddine. Thank you. So just for the sake, all these questions is pushing me to actually get more clarification on when you do the bids, is it something that, and educate me on this, is it something that you can go and say, "My budget is $15,000?" No, ma'am. Okay. So you will go and see, you will give them the design- Yes, ma'am ... and then you would say, "Give me a list or quotes of how much you will be able to do it with how much money it would require." Yes, ma'am. It's unethical for me to tell them I have a certain budget amount or ask them for something, because then I could be

▶ 1:08:51 Maya Jamaleddine: skirting procurement laws by telling someone I need this sign to come in at under 10,000 so I don't have to bid it out. So we're not able to ask for a price. We just have to say, "Here's the job," and then wait for them to give us the cost. Awesome. And if, for instance, if we say, I'm just putting all the scenarios for myself and my colleagues, if we say we can approve a budget of $15,000, is that something that you are capable of working with? I won't know until all of the bids come in. So potentially, if it comes in under 15, but it depends on the bid process and the different companies and what they come in at. If they come in at over 15,000, then no, I wouldn't be able to. Then you're going to have to come back and-

▶ 1:09:36 Maya Jamaleddine: Then I will have to come back ... do the same process- Yes, ma'am ... which is a waste of your time and also the delaying the process for the sign makers or? Yes, ma'am. Okay. And my last question, and hopefully this will help me make the decision, how many quotes, or if I'm using the right term, are you going to request or receive? Is it- Three. Just three? Yes, ma'am. So we're limited to three? Yes, ma'am. And timeline- I could do more, but the minimum is three. Mm-hmm. And I've spoken with planning and with the solicitor to make sure that three based on the amount- Mm-hmm ... of money that the project is, because depending on the amount, you would have to do like an open bid, we have to put like an ad in the paper, and we don't have

▶ 1:10:27 Maya Jamaleddine: to do that because we think it's going to be under 30,000. Mm-hmm. So I'm doing the three, and I'm looking at local sign makers around our community. And timeline is, do we have a timeline of when you're going to have to make the decision or is it- As soon as the quotes come in. Okay. And do you request the type of materials that's going to be used or is it the- The type of materials was part of the design process- Mm-hmm ... so it's in the design tells what type of materials need to be used, which is the high density foam, which will last longer than I will be on this planet. Okay. So the reason why I'm asking, because when you referenced that based on what kind of materials each one is going to

▶ 1:11:13 Maya Jamaleddine: use, it would allow you to decide which maker you're gonna choose. So technically, I suppose a sign company could say, "Well, high density foam is great, but we think this material would be better, and so we're going to use this material in the bid," which is why I'll put all the bids next to each other and make sure they're all exactly the same. Okay. But high density foam is the one that we as a Veterans' Advisory Board agreed on because it has such a long-lasting- Okay ... um- So what I am hearing, they are going to be using all the same materials. Yes, I've sent out the material list. So for our purposes, it should all be the same. Okay. So we're ruling out the differences- Yes ... in the materials that they may be used.

▶ 1:12:02 So we're going to limit ourself to the lowest bid. Yes. That we will have to. The other reason is not valid anymore. No, I was just saying it could be when I was giving the example. But yes. For the purposes of this project, I've made sure that everyone who's doing a bid has the exact design- Okay ... has all of the exact materials- Okay ... has all of the exact everything, so that they can do the bid based on that, so we're apples, apples, apples. Okay. Because I didn't want to be in a situation where we're apples, peaches, and oranges. Yes. Okay. Okay, thank you. Now I'm hungry with all the fruit talk in here. Up next, I have Councilor Chen for a second time. Councilor Vandiver question about what we're willing to spend

▶ 1:12:49 Jason Chen: is, I think, why I'm having issue with the 30,000. And while I appreciate, I am confident that we can get a all-weather polymer sign with six feet wide, a hanger sign underneath, four-foot granite posts as designedfor around $14,000 and still add $6,000 for contingency, which puts us at $20,000. And I think this will be a great sign that lasts a long time. And if we get quotes that are beyond that, all in the $25,000 range, I think maybe we can make the sign a little bit smaller or modify it slightly to fit within $20,000. So, I motion to reduce this free cash request to $20,000. Motion made to reduce to $20,000 by Councilor Chen. Second. Seconded by Councilor Kowal. On discussion, Councilor Finocchiaro.

▶ 1:13:51 Cal Finocchiaro: So, I shared similar concerns. I had mentioned it earlier. But the more I sit here and listen to the discussion, and there's a few things that keep on coming to mind. One, this $30,000 is not going to come before us every year. This is a one-time thing for a quality, beautiful sign that's going to meet the Historic District Commission's approval. It's going to be out there hopefully till the day I die and then some. So obviously, we don't want to chintz on it. We want it to be a really nice sign that lasts. Two, the veterans are a more than worthy group that deserve a really beautiful sign. And I'm blanking on my third reason, but I'm going to make something up. No, just joking. Well, sorry, I remembered what I was going to say.

▶ 1:14:45 Cal Finocchiaro: My third reason is we know that if you don't spend the full 30,000, that that money will just get reabsorbed into our budget. So, and that, I'm sure, is the ultimate goal, not to spend all it, but it's nice to go into a restaurant with more money knowing you have options. And then if you don't spend it, you can put it back in the bank. So, I won't support the amendment for those reasons, but I appreciate this discussion we've had tonight. So that's it. Thank you, Councilor Finocchiaro. Up next, I have Councilor Park. Thank you. Like many of my co-councilors here, I had reservations about the money that was being asked for this particular sign. But in doing my own research and in talking to various

▶ 1:15:35 people about how the budget process works out, the limit here is 30,000. That is the cap. That is the ceiling. And knowing that the expectations are based off of what you've told us, Tammy, that the sign and the design and the specifications are exactly the same and you've laid them out to the point where there really can't be any misinterpretation of what you're doing for the bids, and you are going to, for all intents and purposes, take the lowest bid. That should, with your expectations, come in lower than 30,000. And coupled with the fact that, and this is just part of the general process, when in fact things that go out to bid and come, and they don't, for at least the specific proposals that go out for free

▶ 1:16:25 cash, don't come in for that full amount, it goes back to the general fund in turn backs for next year, which has to subsequently be certified. So for that reason, I am actually okay with moving forward with the 30,000 allocation. All right. Up next, I have President Freeman. Councilor Finocchiaro and Councilor Park summarized my points wonderfully. Thank you. All right. Moving right along. Up next, I have Councilor Jamaleddine. Oh, all right. No? Yes, thanks. All right. Any others on discussion? All right. The motion on the floor is to reduce to 20,000. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? No. Councilor Jamaleddine?

▶ 1:17:16 Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abramsky? No. Councilor Park? No. President Freeman? No. Chair Romanul? No. Two, three, four, five nays, four yeses. All right. The motion fails five to four. One, two. What is the will of the committee? Councilor Chen? I motion to approve the free cash request for $30,000 as is. Second. Motion made by Councilor Chen, seconded by Councilor Park. On discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. Count-- President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor? Motion passes.

▶ 1:18:24 Devin Romanul: All right. The motion passes. We will move that forward to the next full council meeting. Thank you, director, chief. Appreciate the detailed discussion on procurement and- Thank you all ... all of your commentary. All right. Up next, we have item number 541, Council on Aging joining us this evening. Director Drummond, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Mr. President, Councilors. Thank you for your time tonight. I acknowledge that I'm speaking to some of you in your first year here, so I don't want to repeat everything that was in my memo, but I'll give you a brief overview of the department and what we do. So ourMission is to connect older adults with programs, resources, and services that help them thrive in the

▶ 1:19:14 community. We have the Council on Aging office, which comprises of myself, an administrative assistant, social services coordinator, and several drivers who man our transportation program. So our office primarily deals with information and referrals for folks who are looking for resources or to be connected with information. We also run the transportation program, which brings folks to medical destinations outside of Melrose and any location within Melrose. And then we also have the Milano Center, which is the programming hub of our operations. So, they provide fitness programs. We have over 17 different options for folks to choose from, social engagement programs, as well as educational opportunities for

▶ 1:20:13 older adults in Melrose to take advantage of. My memo was submitted a few weeks ago, so I'd like to give you some updated numbers. As of today, the Milano Center this fiscal year has served 1,241 individuals who have checked in 15,184 times this fiscal year. We have also provided 2,209 rides for Melrose residents, with 574 of those being to medical destinations. So, we hope that the budget before you reflects our commitment to providing great services to older adults in Melrose. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Up first, I have Councilor Kowal. Thank you for being here. Pleasure. What you do is so near and dear to my heart, and I am so glad to see you doing all the Memory Cafes. I'll turn it to my mother had dementia, so they were huge

▶ 1:21:10 Elizabeth Kowal: for our family. So, thank you. I also have a lot of aging neighbors who are at the Milano Center all the time, and they just rave about it. So, one of the questions I had, you talked about transportation, and this just may be me being new and not knowing how to read the budget, but where is the transportation? I see mileage, but where is transportation accounted for in the budget? Sure. So transportation primarily is under the salaries and wages. Okay. That will go towards our drivers who are on the road five days a week. Okay. Maintenance of vehicles falls to DPW, so we don't have many other expenses. If I do have expenses for windshield wiper fluid or other things that come up during the year,

▶ 1:21:54 I usually pull from grants or program supplies, which is one of our other line items. Okay. So if I wanted to see the number for transportation, I could just get in touch with you, and we can- Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you very much. Other councilors? Councilor Chen. Hello. So the salaries budget increases by 13.4%. Some of that is the drivers that you're adding? Or is there also a head count? That would be primarily for the full-time staff and our social service coordinator, for anticipated salary increases in the next fiscal year. Got it. So that's both. We're increasing all salaries by 13.4%? So, no. So it would be myself, our social services coordinator, the Milano Center manager, which is James

▶ 1:22:39 Conforti, and the administrative assistant, Diana Ardizzoni. Are we also adding any positions to account for that? We are not, no. I guess I'm asking because it's a large increase in year-over-year salaries that- Sure. It's based on the step and level chart that's set by HR and the unions. Okay. And dependent on employee reviews that are annual. Thank you. Other councilors? Councilor Finocchiaro. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you do. Council on Aging is an amazing place. The Milano Center, my parents, my mother-in-law, they go get their fitness on all the time. Love it. I love all of the events that you do. You just did some creative, make a creative outfit out of a medical, I mean, a pill box or something.

▶ 1:23:41 Cal Finocchiaro: Project Runway? Yeah, Project Runway. Anyways, I'm not sure if the percentages changed, but it's like 20% of Melrose is 65 and older or something like that. So- It's close, yeah ... you serve a good portion of our population, and I don't know, it's a great spot for our community, so appreciate it. Other councilors? What is the will of the committee? Councilor Jamaleddine? Make a motion to move to bottom line. Second. Motion move to the bottom line by Councilor Jamaleddine, seconded by Councilor Kowal. On discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal?

▶ 1:24:31 Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All right, all in favor. We will move that to the bottom line. Up next, item number 28.11, Council on Aging revolving account. Any additional commentary? No, just that we're seeking the same level as fiscal year '26. This is our kind of money in, money out account. So when we buy large purchases that we know will be reimbursed for from ticket sales. For example, we're going to the Peabody Essex Museum at the beginning of June, so we purchase the tickets upfront, and then the members will pay for their tickets. So all of that comes out of there, as well as our instructor's fees ... fitness instructor fees. Sorry.

▶ 1:25:19 Devin Romanul: Wonderful. Any questions? What is the will of the committee? Motion to approve. Oh, second. President. A motion made to approve by President Freeman, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion. Madam Clerk, will you please call the rule? Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen. Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro. Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine. Yes. Councilor Kowal. Yes. Councilor Abrmski. Yes. Councilor Park. Yes. President Freeman. Yes. Chair Romanul. Yes. All in favor. All right. All in favor, the motion passes. Thank you so much- Thank you, Councilors ... Director Drummond. Appreciate your time and for all that you do for the city of Melrose. My pleasure. Thank you. All right. Up next, item number 161.

▶ 1:25:58 City clerk. Jesus. What am I doing? Joining us this evening- Doing DoorDash? ... City Clerk, Sefuni. Okay. Sit. Well, I know that I am fortunate enough to work with all of you around this table- ... in some way. But just to give an overview to the public who could be watching, my name is Tanji Sefuni, and I've been working for the community for the last three years, and I've been blessed to be the city clerk for the last year and a half. I oversee elections, city council, Adrienne, the clerk of committees, and the city clerk. In the city clerk's office, we're super, super busy every day, and not one day is like another. We're always dealing with the public. I have to shout out to my assistant city clerk, Linda

▶ 1:27:03 Reed, my election clerk, James Harris, my senior clerk, Cathy, and Adrienne, for all of their professionalism, their support. I have the best team to work with, so I just wanted to make sure that I shouted out to you because I'm blessed to be working with you. City clerk's office is the official keeper of all the history and records of Melrose. Our mission is to remain dedicated to maintaining and protecting all of our historical records as safely as possible, while servicing the public by providing information in an efficient and timely manner. And I can definitely say that we do so. I attached to my memo the number of transactions that we have done as of the end of April, and there's thousands of them. At this time, I think we have

▶ 1:27:47 generated $110,030 as of April. And that's between all of the licenses or permits or vital records that we process in a fiscal year. So that's the city clerk's. When you look at the budget for the city clerk's office, nothing is really changing. Everything is basically level funded. I try to run every single department that I oversee like it's my own household, and I'm very, very efficient, and I do shop around. There is something that will stick out to all of you, and that is the increase in the agenda software. That looks like it's going up 79.2%. I didn't have it on my radar originally. And then I was reminded that there was legislation that was passed by the state to make sure that our website is ADA compliant.

▶ 1:28:44 And so with that, I did send out a memo, but I was on a webinar recently, and with that webinar, it just discussed how detailed our website, everything on our website needs to be ADA compliant. Budgets, agendas, minutes, any PDF, any PowerPoint presentation, plot plans, everything. Bigger cities, they're recommending that they actually hire a full-time ADA compliance officer just to monitor and watch the websites. We're not there. And so I was able to find a company that is under the umbrella of the parent company that we already use for our website, for our public records request, for recreation. We partner with them well. It would seamlessly work with us on the back end of things. So they did provide me with a quote,

▶ 1:29:41 and that's what's attached here. So that's why it went up significantly from last year to this year. Everything else when it comes to the city council is basically level funded. Some things I actually did go down on as well when it comes to the city council budget. I don't know if you want me to move on, but I know that's what we're talking about right now, so. We'll stick with the clerk for the moment. Yeah. Did I say city council? I'm sorry if I did. I meant to say city clerk. I apologize. City clerk. That's quite all right. Up first I have Councilor Jamaleddine. Thank you. Hello. Hi. It's so good to see you at this place tonight. Yeah, in that corner. Would you be able to provide numbers in terms of how much would

▶ 1:30:29 be if we hire, not that I am advocating to hire someone, but what would be if we hire a professional to manage the websites, an ADA manager, and how much we are paying for a company? Well, right now, I personally don't manage the website. I think earlier, I think the mayor or somebody had mentioned, I only am responsible for the web pages that I oversee for those three different departments. That's all based out of the mayor's office. I rolled this into my budget because I manage so many of the moving docs that are on our website. Posting all of our meetings, agendas. People will come to me for attachments, and so I'm loading all that. So I just felt like it made more sense to have that software rolled into my budgetI

▶ 1:31:27 don't know what a full-time person would be, but I can't even imagine. The number would be pretty large, because then you also have to include benefits and retirement and such, right, if it's a full-time person. We're not there. We don't have the population. We don't have the number of documents. I did have this company assess our existing website and provide us with a grade on where we currently are. Mm. And we're not where we need to be. I also got the total number of documents that I need to get up to speed, and we're talking thousands. But I don't think that that would call for a full-time person. I think having the software would suffice, and that would be a good way for us to be able to

▶ 1:32:11 Maya Jamaleddine: manage what we have already on our website and what we're going to be doing moving forward. Yeah. So just to clarify, it's more to compare what we would be paying versus what we are going to pay right now for the software. Okay. But also, I know that Tom Dalton is the one managing all the websites. Correct. You're more talking specifically about managing documents, moving, saving, and all the other stuff. Correct. How did we do it in the past- We didn't ... before you? We didn't. We didn't have them. Our website has a little icon at the bottom right-hand corner where it will allow somebody to view it at a larger font. It's very minimal of what it does. This actually takes the documents, the actual PDFs-

▶ 1:33:12 Maya Jamaleddine: Mm-hmm ... and they make them ADA compliant. Mm. There's a little button that will be at the top that will take it from readable to whatever it needs to be- Mm-hmm ... for that person who can't read or can't hear. Awesome. And so that's a lot of coding and stuff . Yeah. That's nothing that we would know how to do. Yeah. But this software would do it for us on the back end, and it- Okay ... connects with our website. So just to be clear, we're not paying per service as much as we're paying for the software itself. Right. And then it's yearly payment? Mm-hmm. Okay. It's a yearly payment. And every year we have to renew it. Correct, like we do our website, and next request in this actual, I think it's called iView, what we use already as a little...

▶ 1:34:03 Maya Jamaleddine: That icon that we have on the website to make it so it's ADA compliant. Yeah. It's all under that same umbrella of CivicPlus. Okay. Mm-hmm. And I'm very excited about this. This is amazing for our city and the community as well. What are we going to expect now if we have this software? Well... I'm sorry. I'm asking a lot of information. No, it's totally fine. If we decided to go with this company, they were willing to work with us. They said it would take about two weeks for us to get up and running. They would go through all of the documentation that we already have in our system and get all of that up to speed, and then anything moving forward that I put up on the website, it would automatically get that ADA

▶ 1:34:57 compliant moving forward. And so I could have this probably ready by mid-June. They're not charging us for this fiscal year, but they would already get us up and running this fiscal year. Okay. So by the time that we get into the new fiscal year, we would be in full compliance. I do want to note that the state is telling us that we don't have to be in full compliance until next year. There are about 20 communities in the Commonwealth that are already there. Mm-hmm. So it is something we have to do. Actually, we don't even have a choice. We have to do this. So it's just the like, "Let's just get this going at some point." Yeah. So yeah. And for those that will benefit big time from this resource-

▶ 1:35:47 Mm-hmm ... it will be with documents and what else? Like documents for, let's say, city council agenda and stuff. Mm-hmm. But if you can- Agenda, minutes, plot plans, any sort of attachment that we put on to the website. Currently, right now, they could maybe read some of the data entry of the text of the webpage. But all of those attachments, they're not able to- Mm-hmm ... depending on what their disability is, they're not able to understand what they are. But they would with this software. Applications and forms. Everything. It codes it all. Okay. It literally codes it all. Thank you so much. Yes. That's amazing. And I'd be happy to send all of you the link too, so you can actually watch the

▶ 1:36:36 three-minute webinar. It's pretty fascinating what it can do. That's great. Yeah. Thank you. Yes, for sure. Thank you so much. So yeah, do please feel free to forward. That'd be great. Yes, for sure. Up next, I have Councilor Park. Thank you. Tanji, I am familiar with the ADA software and the compliancy that we have to move forward with. My question to you is, the cost moving forward, essentially the 18,000, is that going to be a fixed recurring cost, or is that- It's not 18 for this. This software is not 18. There's other things that I have to pay for in that agenda item. Oh, okay. Okay. Because I have to pay for all of our minutes in our... Like the software that we do for all of our minutes and all of our agenda,

▶ 1:37:23 and all that has a cost. That's called CivicClerkSo there's that. The quote that I think... Well, I did send it to all of you, but- With the Agenda Soft was 17,915. Am I misreading something? I thought that was just- No. Yeah. The quote that I had received for this particular stuff that I'm talking about is $8,871. And so the line item that you're looking at doesn't just include... It includes this new doc- Well, I don't want to say it out loud, but what this would be and what we're already paying for the software where we do all of the agendas and minutes, which is called Civic Clerk. Okay. I pay for that out of this particular line item. Okay. Got it. Thank you for the clarification. So is that number going to remain static moving forward or because we

▶ 1:38:25 are making that transition, because there's presumably a lot of documents that need to be converted- Mm-hmm ... is that cost higher or is this a fixed... What is the pricing model on that sort of subscription? Is it a yearly basis regardless that we're going to be paying or is it dynamic in the sense of how much volume and content you're going to be putting through? What it says over here is that this would be an amendment to the website contract, so it would be an amendment to the website. So prorated. I know you're building your contract. We could always work, and I know the mayor has actually done this with them and told them that we do want to sit down with them because we want to begin to start building

▶ 1:39:11 out some discounts because we are adding on more software under their umbrella that we can really utilize. And so with that, we want to start seeing tiered discounts for some of the things that we're using, right? Because there's so many underneath there, and I know that they did do that for our website, for instance. The number there, when I had put in for $10,000 for the agenda software, what I had noticed is that they actually gave us a reduced amount, and it was for two years, and actually that contract expires December of 2026 for our website. So when I had requested the $10,000 last year, I thought it was already going to be up and I was going to have to pay for it. But then when I looked at the contract, I wasn't involved when they had done

▶ 1:40:02 all this, I inherited this. When I looked at it, I was like, "Oh, it looks like they actually worked with us and gave us two years at that rate." So again, with this particular number, that's the number for how many records that we have, and I can go back and I can ask if that number would be going up if there's going to be more, but obviously they know where there's going to be more. That's the whole purpose of this whole thing is that- Right ... it's always going to be building. Right. And- And I understand what you're saying about a cap of some sort, and then maybe there's going to be an additional layer of costs- Right ... when you get to a certain amount. Because where I'm going with this is that,

▶ 1:40:42 I, and I've spoken to Jason about this, Councilor Jason, and Adrienne too, to some extent- Yeah ... about really trying to flush out the meetings, putting them where they're more accessible in terms of the votes, what was on the agenda, how people voted, and if we're going to be putting out something that can be potentially hundreds of pages, how is that going to affect this particular price for the ADA, and is that something we have to factor in moving forward? Not that... No. Not that I know of, no. You're talking about the agendas and minutes. That's Civic Clerk. Mm-hmm. The Civic Clerk? Yeah. Yeah. The Civic Clerk is definitely more affordable than Minute Track that we were using. It's a little bit more user-friendly maybe for the end user.

▶ 1:41:34 I personally feel like it's still in its infancy stage when it comes to us working on it and building agendas and minutes. I think there's a lot more that they can do with this software, but it's what we have and we're in a contract with them now, so. And it's definitely more affordable than what we were doing. I can say that. That's all I can say. Okay. I wasn't really involved in all of the detail and the negotiations when it comes to this. It wasn't me, it was the mayor's office. I just kind of... Because agendas and minutes falls in my department, that's the reason why I just retained the costs and had to build out the dashboard. Okay. But I didn't really have anything to do with the details of the contract.

▶ 1:42:25 Cal Finocchiaro: Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Up next I have Councilor Ferraquio. Thank you. So one of the best parts of budget season is we get department heads in front of us, and it's a good time to thank people. So I know I'm not asking a question, but I just want to say thank you because you've done an excellent job, Adrienne, James. I don't know everybody that's what falls under your purview. But you guys are so organized and run our meetings so efficiently and all the meeting minutes and the emails. So really appreciate what you guys do. So thank you. Thank you very much. Councilor Chen. Thank you. I think I have no issue with the extra software to be ADA compliant. We've had a discussion briefly, and also with

▶ 1:43:12 Jason Chen: Tom Dalton, about how to use AI in municipal websites, and they do a lot for city clerks to automate the day-to-day work, not to replace anyone, but to make your work more efficient. Right. And these software bundles are pretty inexpensive. It's $6,000 for a ... a front end and internal use for unlimited number of users. So it'll be more a question for IT, but this could make a lot of your day-to-day burdensome tasks- Mm-hmm ... more efficient. Yeah. And they offer full minutes tracking, dictation. They can give first responses to people that you can then check and say, "Yes, that is the correct record," and then just hit send. So- Mm-hmm ... with that, I propose to move to the bottom line.

▶ 1:43:54 Bradley Freeman: Second. Motion made to move to the bottom line by Councilor Chen, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion, President Freeman. Just want to know quickly, just for the record, I know you and I have had conversations before about the census process that you have to go through, and the- Yeah ... steps that it takes to involve residents responding. And whether it's built into the FY27 budget or looking ahead to FY28, I'd really encourage your office to look at a electronic submission for the census process. I know some other cities and towns use CR codes and allow residents, particularly those who are not making any changes to their census, to note that online. And I think it would help save money down the

▶ 1:44:30 road, because you wouldn't be sending out as many reminders to residents who don't respond immediately. Mm-hmm. So whether that's built into the FY27 or talking FY28 and free cash, would love to continue working with your office on that. Thank you. Thank you, President Freeman. Any others? I was going to bring that up, but it was going to be under elections. But- Fair enough ... thank you. We did talk about it. I like the coming attractions. All right. Seeing no other commentary, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? No. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes.

▶ 1:45:11 President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All right. All in favor, we'll move that to the bottom line. Thank you so much. Up next, number 162, election registrar. Take it away. Which one is next? Elections? Oh, 162. Elections, right? Elections registrar. Okay, great. So I had the privilege to work with all of you over the last nine months and to board four new people. We've been working really closely, looking at all of our policies and procedures when it comes to elections. James is new. I'm fairly new at this. I've been able to lean on some phenomenal people that you have in this community who just love elections and love the city of Melrose, and they have so much knowledge.

▶ 1:45:54 And they sign up with the volunteer program, and I probably had four to five people last year, from the senior volunteer program, that helped me out throughout the year. That's how I was able to meet Adrian, actually, coming on and helping me with the census, organizing my office, helping me with early voting, helping me on election day. It was also a great way to bring down overall costs by using all of the senior volunteers as well. So I really appreciate all of them. And we've tried to make sure that everybody is using all of the campaign financing online now instead of manually submitting in all of their campaign financing. We try to make sure that we push out all information that we're getting from the

▶ 1:46:46 state as soon as we get it to make all of your lives easier with the campaign process, and then with the onboarding process, and then with the filing after the election. And I'm very happy with how everything went in the November election. I hope you all are as well. We were very, very happy with our turnout that we had this year. We had a really, really good number, I think I have it somewhere here, on how many people we had turn out for early voting. Thousands, and obviously, the mail-in ballots were very successful, and then we had a good turnout the day of. So everything went really smooth sailing. We worked really closely with the board of registers. We meet with them on a monthly basis.

▶ 1:47:31 And we're already starting to plan out everything that we need to do for the primaries and November election. So we have a lot of people. I would say about 90% of the people have already come back to us and told us that they want to work both elections again, for both the September and November. So our numbers are looking good for the poll workers. And I think basically when it comes to the budget, everything, again, is just basically level funded. I know that we are having two elections this year versus the one that I had last year, but with it being a state and federal election, they pay for a lot of the print of the ballots, and they front a lot of the costs. Obviously, we didn't have that for the November

▶ 1:48:15 election. It was just a local election. So we have to front all of the costs when it comes to that stuff. So our costs are not going to be as high for this one. And like President Freeman said, we did talk about the census. I did last year incorporate a line item for an email address and a cell phone. I would say less than a third of the people actually even put their email or their cell phone down, and a lot of our demographics still want to hand-deliver their census to us. They don't even want to put it in the mail. So I totally understand what you say about trying to send all that out with the emails or a QR code. I would love to be able to do something like that, too. But right now, we also need our state database to actually even

▶ 1:49:07 capture email addresses, which they don't even capture that. So I'm capturing the email address because once I get that census, if I have questions on something, I'm able to email them and I'm able to ask them the question or invite them to come in. But I have no place to put that when I collect that information in the state database, because they don't collect that information. So I wouldn't be able to do any sort of mass mailing or anything from that database because they don't collect it. It's more of an internal thing right now. Terrific. Up first I have Councilor Park. Thank you. Let me just start off by saying that every time I've voted in Melrose, I've always been impressed by the seamless way everything moves forward.

▶ 1:49:54 You can get in, get out really quickly. There's no lines. There have been times where I've been guilty of not registering, and that process has been actually very smooth as well. Coming from a point also where I was running for office, I found being on the stands or the grounds to be pleasant, and also noticing how smooth the operations worked from that standpoint as well. So I really commend what was going on in the back. It's like a military operation, and I see that there isn't any increase on any of the funds that you've requested, so I make a motion to move to the bottom line. Motion to move- Second ... to the bottom line made by Councilor Chen, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion, I have Vice Chair Vanderberg.

▶ 1:50:40 Kimberly Vandiver: Thank you. The discussion about the census options for that just made me think of possibly an idea you can consider. If we do have a large number of people who want to come down here in person and hand in their census, I wonder if, before we do mailing, which costs money for the envelopes and the time, the postage, if we could do a round of letting people know a stack of censuses is available at the office, come on in, fill it in in person, put it in the drop box. We knock out 1,000 people that way, and then we do a round of mailing with whoever's left. That might save a little bit of cost. You'd have to think about how that fits into your operation, but- Yeah ... just a suggestion. I just don't know what the turnout would really be.

▶ 1:51:24 It's so important to get a good turnout- Mm-hmm ... and have accurate information. And the information that is being printed on that census is being printed from the database, so it's going to be pretty much accurate. Your responsibility as a resident is to look at it and say, "It all looks good," sign it, and return it. You might have a change. Maybe somebody's passed, maybe somebody has moved. It's your responsibility to do that. To have somebody come in and remember that off the top of their head, I don't know how accurate some of it might be, if they're going to remember all the details. I do know there's one community, because President Freeman and I spoke about this, and I did reach out, and I did do some research, and I do know that there's a

▶ 1:52:05 community in the Cape that currently is just on their census saying, "If there are absolutely no changes to your census, you can submit in your request stating there are no changes," and they can electronically sign it. There is one community that's doing that, and I would like to reach out to them to see what their success rate was on that. And if there are, they have to print it, and they have to make the changes, and they have to mail it in. I was told that there was one from the vendor that we're currently using. So I'm curious to see what that community gets back for data. But like we discussed, it could be something that we're definitely going to work on and look at for the future, because it would make our lives so much

▶ 1:52:52 Kimberly Vandiver: easier as well. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. I know with the last election cycle, too, the at home ballots that get mailed out, those are even more so than the census because there's a whole process around checks and balances and- I'll get to that when you ask me- ... so forth and whatnot ... when the order comes up for the mailing. Anytime we can- The mailing ... streamline the mailing processes, I think is a good thing for time, and cost, and everything, so. Yep. Yeah. But I appreciate that you're on it and you're considering it. Yep. I agree. Terrific. Any other questions on discussion? All right. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Vice Chair Vanderberg? Yes. Councilor Chen?

▶ 1:53:32 Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abremski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All in favor. We will move that item to the bottom line. Thank you so much. And last but not least in our departmental budget presentations this evening is number 112, City Council. City Council, here we are. Again, I have the pleasure of working with all of you, and you're all extremely professional. You're all very attentive. Your communication with Adrian and I are great, and we really love working with all of you. And it's been a pleasure onboarding Councilor Chen, Councilor Kowal, Councilor Park, President Freeman.

▶ 1:54:17 I highlighted a couple of things. We've rolled out over 10 ordinances in the year. We've worked closely with all of you to do that, food truck, dog leash, dwelling units. There's a bunch of you in this room that also helped me come up with all the new applications that we needed to roll out for these licenses, so I've worked closely with a lot of you on that. When it comes to our budget, everything is basically level funded, with the exception of advertising. With so many of those poll petitions that we had last year, and we had so many poll petitions, we have to front all of that money for those legal ads. All of that has to get in front. And we do ask for that money back, but it takes a while for that money to come back.

▶ 1:55:05 And when that money comes back, it doesn't go back into this line item. It goes back into the general fund. Mm. It's not set up as a revolving fund. The other thing is, is that you have to pay for hearings, any sort of like our water and sewer rate hearing, setting the tax classification, our operating budget. All of those things, you need to pay for that print and all that advertising. So that number went up because that number was way too low. All right. Any questions?What is the will of the committee? President Freeman. Motion to move to the bottom line. Second. Motion to move to the bottom line made by President Freeman, seconded by Vice Chair Vandiver. On discussion. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

▶ 1:55:54 Devin Romanul: Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All in favor. All right. Thank you so much. And to save Madam Clerk the indignity of running back and forth and getting more steps in, I motion by unanimous consent to take ID number 20261178 out of order. Mm-hmm. Seeing no objection, we will now hear ID number 20261178, an appropriation from free cash to the elections department 162, in the amount of $3,000 for a mailing. So, like Councilor Vandiver was just bringing up, every other year, the state or the federal government will actually pay for a mailing to go out

▶ 1:56:45 to all of our registered voters, asking them if they want a mail-in ballot. They'll list the elections that are coming up for that calendar year, and they'll say, "Do you want a mail-in ballot for all elections, September election, November election?" And they check the box, and then a mail-in ballot is sent to them. But that's not every year. It's every other year. So, last year, that didn't happen with the mail. And despite the fact that we put it in the paper, and we had it on the boards, and we put it on our website, and people were still frustrated that they didn't receive that mail-in ballot, and we had to keep explaining to them why, and that they have to request a mail-in ballot. And with the request of a mail-in ballot, they receive their

▶ 1:57:26 mail-in ballot. And they just don't know that because it kind of throws you off when it changes every other year. So, we're coming into a year of next year that that's not going to happen. We're going to have to make sure that our residents know that if they want that mail-in ballot, for not this November's election, the following November's election, they must request a mail-in ballot. They must fill out the form, and they must either online or send it in. I'm asking for free cash because free cash is only now, during this time period. We do our census and put the whole thing together the second week in December is usually when we do it, and we drop them the last week in December. Everybody gets them between Christmas and New

▶ 1:58:11 Year's is when everybody starts mailing them. So, what we were thinking is, how can we notify all of our residents about this in the most cost-effective way that would target so many people? We felt that the most cost-effective way would be an additional insert with the census and the dog registration that goes out. This way, 20,000 people are receiving this. All of our registered voters will get this additional piece of paper. We'll have it on a colored, bright piece of paper, and we'll just notify everybody, "If you do want a mail-in ballot, please make sure that you request it this year." Because we're already paying for the postage for the census, that's mandatory, that must be sent out, and the dog registration.

▶ 1:58:54 Maya Jamaleddine: So, we're just doing an additional insert. That was the most cost-effective way. That's what this $3,000 is for, and we would be utilizing that $3,000 in December when we send in all of our money to our vendor for the census. Terrific. Any questions? Councilor Jamaleddine. Thank you. This is very good. What I would request or suggest is that we just monitor what the impact of this, if you can report back to us if this actually worked- Mm-hmm ... and how, because this is going to let us know if we should use it for next time- Mm-hmm ... and the following year or probably try a different way if it doesn't work. Yeah. Yes, I can do that. You could just do the percentage of how many people turn out, and I guess maybe how many complaints.

▶ 1:59:50 But yes, I'm hoping that we can be able to track to see if it's going to be cost-effective and effective all around. But it should be. It should be because this community does a really, really good job turning in their census and their dog registrations. They do. Overall, they do. And so, just year over year from the first time that I did it last year, and I did the confirmation cards, which is the second round of people that I have to send postcards to saying, "Hey, FYI, you never turned in your census, so here's a confirmation card. Sign it and turn it in that you still live here, and you still at this address." That number went down significantly from last year. We're not sending out as many the second time around.

▶ 2:00:30 Jason Chen: So, a lot of people are doing a really good job returning their census. Awesome. Thank you. Yep. Up next, Councilor Chen. Okay. Thank you for saving money on this one. Mm-hmm. And I also concur with President Freeman suggestion of if we can move people to electronic answering and bills of everything. I think the statistics are about two-thirds of people prefer to pay bills electronically on their phone in any way possible. So, motion to recommend for approval. Motion to recommend made by Councilor Chen. Second. Seconded by several people, including Councilor Kowal. On discussion. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Yes. Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro?

▶ 2:01:16 Devin Romanul: Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All right. All in favor. We will move that to the full council for consideration on our next session. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. Up next, appropriations for FY27, ID number 20261208, an appropriation in the amount of $126,652,797 to fund the fiscal year 2027 general operating budgetPresident Freeman. Motion to hold in appropriations 2026-1208 in committee. Second. Motion to hold made by President Freeman, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

▶ 2:02:06 Devin Romanul: Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abrmski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All right, all in favor, we will hold that appropriation in committee. And last but not least, we have ID number 20261212, reauthorization of the revolving fund table for fiscal year 2027. Motion to hold in committee. Second. Vice Chair Vandiver made a motion to hold in committee, seconded by Councilor Finocchiaro. On discussion. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Vice Chair Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Chen? Yes. Councilor Finocchiaro? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine?

▶ 2:02:50 Devin Romanul: Yes. Councilor Kowal? Yes. Councilor Abrmski? Yes. Councilor Park? Yes. President Freeman? Yes. Chair Romanul? Yes. All in favor. All in favor, all right, we will hold that in committee, and I can assure the voters of Melrose that the city is saving on air conditioning this evening. They are not in this building. So that line item is significantly reduced. Seeing no other items on our agenda, I'll now motion by unanimous consent to adjourn. Seeing no objections, we are now adjourned. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm going to go take a stretch break. Yeah. John, did you want to get a- I don't know. I should've brought a choke with me. I can't be here long. Why don't we get chairs that don't squeak?

Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2026-05-18

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