September 16, 2021 by Carol Britton Meyer
During a joint preliminary fiscal 2021 financial review/sustainable budget planning session among the Select Board, Advisory Committee, and School Committee Tuesday night, the creation of a Sustainable Budget Task Force was announced.
Members include School Committee member Nes Correnti, Hingham Public Schools Director of Business and Support Services John Ferris, Select Board member Liz Klein, HPS Interim Supt. Gary Maestas, Assistant Town Administrator for Finance Michelle Monsegur, and former Advisory Committee Chair Donna Smallwood.
The purpose of the task force is to develop and analyze one or more options for a five-year "sustainable forecast" (for fiscal 2023-27). This term was described as "a financial forecast that uses realistic assumptions for revenue and expenditure growth that allows the town to provide services that meet residents’ expectations as well as ongoing expenditure obligations through regularly occurring revenues [expected to continue in the future]."
The goal is for the task force to report its finding to Town Administrator Tom Mayo in Jan. 2022.