Plans, police, priorities: Town begins budgeting for fiscal year 2027

Budget season has begun in Acton. 

Police staffing, public records, and contradictory planning documents are all in the spotlight. 

Money is still tight, and finance experts are probing Acton’s debt burden. 

“It’s early days,” Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said last week.

Town leaders will assemble an overall budget in the coming months. 

Among the headwinds, Lafleur said Acton has no shortage of master plans for everything from tackling climate issues to housing to recreation. Some plans are “in contrast,” Lafleur said, and “it’s getting harder and harder” to juggle these priorities. 

She urged town groups to identify shared goals and said Acton needs to develop more-focused “one-year action plans.” 

Public safety needs

Lafleur said the police department has a “very lean” command structure. 

In a written report alongside her Select Board presentation, she said adding another full-time staffer — at a potential cost of $205,000 — would help as call volumes spike. Acton also has many young officers, Lafleur said. That means the department needs greater supervision and oversight than a more experienced one. 

Command needs fall among “operational challenges” listed in Lafleur’s September 15 report. Lafleur cautioned that she doesn’t necessarily plan to include each of the items in the 2027 fiscal year budget. 

She said the police and fire departments might net more grant funding, however, with a dedicated public safety business manager who helps navigate budgets. 

Lafleur also noted that frequent protests require extra work from police. 

“Understandably, this is the world we live in right now, and being cautious is always the right move,” local advocate Marc Girolimetti said hours before a recent rally against antisemitism. 

Acton Indivisible founder Kate Kavanagh, who has been part of demonstrations against President Donald Trump, said the organization’s leadership gets “a lot of support” from the police.

Adam Chapdelaine of the Massachusetts Municipal Association says many communities are reviewing police leadership structures. He also empathizes with Acton’s efforts to manage protests in light of tight police staffing and overtime budgets. 

Some critics have skewered the town over its upper management headcount. After Lafleur flagged a difference between police and fire command staffing, Select Board member Cameron McKennitt wondered whether the fire department is the true anomaly. 

Busy days ahead for interim CFO

Less than six months into his Acton tenure, Ryan Ferrara has had three job titles. 

Now the town’s interim chief financial officer, his employee badge still advertises his original gig. 

Ferrara came to Acton in May as assistant CFO. Just a few weeks later, he replaced his boss, Anthony Ansaldi, in an acting capacity when officials placed Ansaldi on paid administrative leave. Ferrara became interim CFO this month when the town officially axed Ansaldi. 

“There’s been a lot going on this summer, and it’s been difficult to manage the workload, particularly in the finance department,” Town Manager Kerry Lafleur told the Select Board last week. 

The town advertised the CFO vacancy on September 16. The anticipated salary range is $138,174 to $165,131. 

Lafleur told The Acton Bridge that the town was already receiving applications as of September 17.

— Dakota Antelman

Public records admin

Lafleur said public records requests are on the rise at the Town House, doubling between the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years from 1.7 requests per business day on average to 3.4. 

The town’s municipal archivist handles requests. Lafleur floated adding a public records administrator to lighten the load. This could cost $40,000 as a part-time role or $101,250 as a full-time position.

Chapdelaine said hiring a designated administrator seems normal for a town of Acton’s size. He said he’s hearing from municipal staffers that the number of public records requests are spiking in many communities given “an erosion of trust in government,” even if local leaders are faring better on that score than their national counterparts. 

Rangers and firefighters

Lafleur said it would cost roughly $100,000 to restore a seasonal ranger program in the Natural Resources Division and a portion of the fire department’s overtime budget that was cut from the 2026 fiscal year budget. 

Local trail users have lamented the ranger reduction. Some residents also objected when the town delayed filling an assistant director of natural resources position this summer due to concerns about the fiscal 2027 budget. Natural Resources Director Delia Kaye recently announced a new assistant director would start in early October. 

The Finance Committee will set guidelines for next year’s town and school spending increases. The panel has spent the summer discussing debt on the town’s books. 

Especially as officials weigh new positions, budget watchers have urged town brass to benchmark against other communities. 

FinCom expects to set a preliminary guideline next month and issue a final guideline in late November.