The Town of Lakeville held extended department-head budget hearings during its April 9 Select Board meeting. Town Administrator Andrew presented an austerity-focused FY2026 draft, and department heads from the library, town clerk’s office, parks, animal control, veterans services and the Council on Aging outlined program needs and pressures. The meeting also featured a detailed exchange about fire-department staffing and the financial connection between EMS revenue and coverage levels.

Town Administrator’s proposal
Andrew told the board he reduced select board and town-administrator expenses and will not take a salary increase next year (a savings he estimated at about $5,000). He proposed not immediately refilling the executive assistant/assistant to the town administrator position (a recurring cost estimated in the packet at roughly $90,000) and moving training and postage budgets into HR and the treasurer’s budgets respectively. Andrew said he wants to limit the use of free cash and asked departments to live within reduced allocations. He also noted a proposal to fund compensated absences at town meeting to pay retiree payouts and related liabilities.

Library (Jennifer Jones)
Library Director Jennifer Jones reviewed new services (streaming, Mango Languages, genealogy computer, upgraded Wi-Fi), and said the library expects certification grant payments from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners that depend on meeting municipal appropriation and staffing requirements. Jones asked for modest materials increases (books and digital services) to meet state materials-expenditure rules; she said materials spending fell during COVID and is rebounding. Jones also presented the “food for fines” idea, which the board approved as a 30-day pilot at the meeting (see separate article).

Town Clerk (Elaine)
Town Clerk Elaine described the workload spike from expanded vote-by-mail requests for the presidential election: about 6,400 mailed requests and roughly 5,500 returned ballots in the recent cycle. She said processing, scanning and securing mailed ballots requires substantial staff time and cited needs for part-time staffing during busy cycles. Elaine said some core costs — code updates for the town’s online bylaws database and rising postage/printing costs — require modest budget increases; training and postage lines were moved administratively to HR and the treasurer.

Parks and enterprise-fund concerns
Parks officials reported capital repairs (skate park resurfacing, gazebo and roof repairs at Loon Pond Lodge, a tree-damaged roof at Clear Pond), higher electricity costs at park facilities and rising repair and maintenance needs for fields and irrigation. Commissioners flagged that the parks enterprise fund is under pressure: the fund’s operating budget shows retained earnings at roughly $43,000; indirect charges and true enterprise costs push a full enterprise-cost estimate materially higher. Commissioners and finance committee members discussed the need for a formal business plan and clearer accounting of indirect costs and revenue paths (season passes, daily admissions, concessions and rentals). Clear Pond season pass pricing and out-of-town pass policy were discussed as levers to increase revenue; the parks commissioners said they would provide a concept plan for Clear Pond improvements soon.

Animal control and donations
Animal Control staff described a shift to a single brand of higher-quality dog food to reduce digestive problems and extra cleanup at the shelter; the cost of that food is substantially higher than in past budgets. The town has a gifts-and-grants account that has been used to offset shelter costs and will be applied to vehicle purchase costs previously authorized by the board. The board encouraged using an Amazon-style wish list or targeted donation collection to support specific shelter needs.

Fire department staffing and EMS revenue debate
Fire leadership and select board members held a detailed discussion about the tradeoffs between operating a 3-person versus a 4-person staffing model. Fire leadership said that when the department has four on duty on each apparatus (the 4-person model) simultaneous-call coverage improves, callback/overtime drops and ambulance availability grows — a revenue-boosting effect because the town bills for ambulance transports. The department noted a strong correlation in recent years between staffing and the quantity of billable EMS transports; staff also cautioned that turnover (nine departures in 18 months) and an increasingly competitive labor market have driven recruitment and retention challenges. Select board and finance committee members requested more granular revenue and call-type data and urged further analysis (including a three-year call-type and revenue breakdown) to inform any decision about converting to permanent added staffing. Town staff said the FY2026 revenue estimate for EMS was set conservatively for tax-rate-setting purposes and that actuals for the current year are trending higher; the board and staff emphasized the need to be conservative in projections submitted to the Department of Revenue.

Next steps
Board members asked for a compiled tally of budget augmentation requests presented across hearings and next steps for a consolidated review. Staff and department heads will deliver follow-up details: a library and parks capital plan, a breakdown of EMS and ambulance revenue by payer and call type, and a clarified list of personnel and timing requests. Board members said they will convene a follow-up meeting to reconcile requests and finalize recommendations for the town’s FY2026 budget.

Why it matters: The hearings revealed competing priorities — cost containment and service continuity — and highlighted structural pressures from turnover, rising facility and utility costs, and program demand that will shape FY2026 budget choices.