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Finance Committee
Meetings
The Finance Committee normally meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month in Room 201, Maynard Town Hall (195 Main Street).
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes and Agendas
Members
Name | Title | Term Expires |
---|---|---|
Alannah Gustavson | Chair | 2025 |
Jillian Prendergast | Vice Chair | 2023 |
Katie Moore | Clerk | 2024 |
Ken Estabrook | Member | 2023 |
Peter Campbell | Member | 2025 |
Danielle Ericks | Member | 2024 |
Purpose
The Finance Committee (FinCom) is a seven-member committee appointed by the Town Moderator and serves Town Meeting voters-in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws (Chapter 39, Section 16) and Maynard's Town Charter and By-laws-in three important ways:
- Work throughout the year on behalf of Town Meeting voters and in collaboration with the Select Board, School Committee, Town Administrator, and other Town stakeholders to (a) research impartially and understand the Town's finances and important financial trends, and (b) take proactive steps to make this understanding more accessible to Town Meeting voters.
- Provide independent oversight of Town finances, representing the interests of Town Meeting voters.
- Review and analyze all Town Meeting warrant articles and make informed recommendations for the consideration of Town Meeting voters as they decide how to vote.
Pursuant to this last point, the Town Charter expressly requires the FinCom to "report, in writing, its recommendations on every article contained in a town meeting warrant together with a statement of the reasons for each such recommendation." The Charter also requires the FinCom to "hold one or more public hearings to permit public discussion of the subject matter of all articles contained in the warrant" and "conduct at least one public hearing on the proposed budget." These public hearings are usually held in the weeks before each annual or special town meeting and are announced via the FinCom's meeting notices.
Financial Transparency
The Town of Maynard has partnered with ClearGov, a leading municipal transparency and benchmarking platform, to launch an infographic-based fiscal dashboard. The new tool provides residents an easy-to-understand, interactive breakdown of the town's finances, as well as insights into demographics, population, projects and more.
Notices & Documents
June 2020 Town Meeting
- The FinCom Recommendations are published in the Town Meeting Warrant. (These supersede the draft recommendations dated 11-May-2020 published here earlier.)
- FinCom Recommendation on Article 13 and General Summary of Maynard's Finances (7-Jun-2020) (PDF)
- FinCom Budget Status Presentation (PDF)
- NOTE: This Budget Status Presentation is the slide deck that the Maynard Finance Committee (FinCom) planned to use for its presentation at the June 13 Annual Town Meeting. In the interest of saving time at Town Meeting, the presentation will be deferred to the planned October Special Town Meeting. Nevertheless, the FinCom encourages those wishing to understand the current status of the Town's budget to review the information in the slide deck.
FY2021 Budgeting Process
The Select Board and Finance Committee hosted a joint meeting on Saturday, February 8th to discuss the FY21 Budget. Please find presentation materials linked below.
- Finance Committee Perspectives (updated 9-Feb-2020) (PDF)
- Fiscal Year 2021 Town Administrator Proposed Budget (PDF)
- Fiscal Year 2021 Proposed Budget - Maynard Public Schools (PDF)
Other Materials
- Town Administrator Recommended FY21 Comprehensive Budget Message (21-Jan-2020) (PDF)
- Town Administrator Recommended FY21 Budget Sheet (21-Jan-2020) (PDF)
October 2019 Special Town Meeting
The Finance Committee held a public hearing on October 21st at the Maynard Town Building, Room 201, to present background information and recommendations on warrant articles for the Special Town Meeting to be held on October 28th. All town residents were welcome and invited to attend. There was a question and answer period to help residents better understand the articles' intent.
Please Note: The Finance Committee's recommendations to Town Meeting voters (and accompanying statements of reasons/comments) for Articles 1-5 are included in the printed Warrant, available at the first link above (Article 1, page 5; Article 2, page 10; Article 3, page 12; Article 4, page 12; Article 5, pages 13-14). The recommendation and accompanying comments for Article 6 had not been finalized by the time that the Warrant went to press and so are provided in the second link listed below:
- Special Town Meeting Warrant (published 1-Oct-2019) (PDF)
- Finance Committee Recommendation and Comments on Article 6, Citizens' Petition Welcoming Town Regulation (published 25-Oct-2019) (PDF)
2019 Annual Town Meeting
The Finance Committee - in close collaboration with the Select Board, School Committee, Town Administrator, and other Town stakeholders - put together an analysis report, aimed at providing residents with a clear, concise, and accessible context for the operating budget proposals for the coming fiscal year: View the report (PDF).
FYI: A number of documents related to the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020) Budget Process can be found on the Select Board page.