Attempting to provide more clarity and information on the budget process and operations of the town, town Finance Director Aleesha Nunley Benjamin and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Michelle Cresta presented a joint budget forum to the public on behalf of the town and Marblehead Public Schools at Veterans Middle School on Tuesday evening.
The two touched on a number of areas including revolving and general funds, taxes, revenue and the generation of new growth, Proposition 2 1/2, and financial transparency.
Benjamin provided an overview of the expected revenues for the general fund for fiscal year 2025, most of which will come from the tax levy, which is projected at $73,202,404. The expected new growth from the tax levy is roughly $300,000.
The revenues were also calculated assuming that the proposed local rooms and meal tax articles pass at Town Meeting in May. If approved, those taxes are estimated to bring in an additional $400,000 to bring local receipts to a total of $7,092,340.
“That’s what we built the budget on,” Benjamin said. “If the meals and rooms does not pass, we’ll put something else in the warrant to reduce the budget on the school and the town side.”
The presentation also showed how the town is slowly becoming less reliant on free cash. Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer has repeatedly explained that over the last several years, the town has been depending on free cash, an undesignated fund balance, to build its budget.
“Historically, Marblehead has budgeted for free cash in the health-insurance line,” Benjamin said. “Then the free cash was used to balance the budget. We are ending this practice.”
The town is working to limit the use of free cash to 5% of the budget. In FY23, $3 million in free cash was used. For FY24, that number dropped to $2 million, and it will drop to $1 million for FY25.
On the district’s side, Cresta noted that a budget workshop for MPS would take place on Wednesday night and, according to the presentation, “more details will be forthcoming about our FY25 budget proposal.”
With no override being presented this year, the district will need to make cuts of roughly $2.5 million to get down to a reduced-services budget, which will result in dozens of position and program being cuts.