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Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley financial update: COVID impact, healthy reserves, paying for big projects

August 18, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley Chief Financial Officer Sheryl Strother didn’t waste any time in mentioning COVID-19 during her Select Board presentation on preliminary fiscal year 2022 (ended June 30) financial results, indicating that its impact continues to be felt.

“2022 continued to be impacted by COVID, the town’s immediate response to the COVID emergency was to slow spending and to pull back on capital, and particular in 2021 budgeting. The town really curtailed the capital until we could see what the revenue picture was going to look like.”

While COVID-19 had its devastating impact on health and put a hold on town infrastructure projects,  Wellesley also started to financially reap the benefits of federal funding, such as from the CARES Act, that went toward town and school costs, and from ARPA, that paid for COVID-19 leave. Local government capital budgets had been tightened, but departments still wound up turning money back to the town that they hadn’t spent, and that resulted in Wellesley having a strong reserve fund to end fiscal 2021.

“Even though we used significant reserves to kind of restore our capital, a little bit in 2022 and significantly more in 2023 budgeting, we’re going to close fiscal ’22 with very significant reserves,” Strother said. Local revenues, including from licenses/permits and the Recycling & Disposal Facility, far exceeded budgets. So did departmental operating turnback (unused funds), in large part because positions went vacant, with job candidates hard to find as the pandemic went on.

As a result the town’s financial reserves amount to about 20% of fiscal year 2023 budgeted revenue. Having a healthy free cash fund could help the town reduce the amount it needs to borrow—possibly via a debt exclusion and higher property taxes—for significant Town Hall renovations, which will be the subject of a Special Town Meeting on Oct. 24.

wellesley finance report

The fiscal year 2023 outlook continues to take the impact of the pandemic into account. For example, the move to a more hybrid workforce has whacked the town’s parking revenue, and as a result the town is using $500K from its general fund to subsidize its traffic and parking operations.

tailby parking lot 9am summer aug
More vehicles are showing up at the Tailby Lot, but it is still nowhere near the capacity of a few years back

 

Following Strother’s presentation, Select Board members weighed in (See recording of the presentation and discussion starting about a minute into the Wellesley Media recording and lasting for about half an hour).

Ann-Mara Lanza asked about the big difference between projected revenue and actual revenue, and the impact that might have had on holding off on certain town projects. She suggested this would be something to consider for FY ’23 in light of projects approved by Town Meeting that the town’s departments have said they don’t have the capacity to handle. For  example, renovations of the Park & Highway building and at the RDF have been deferred in light of all the work being done on the school building projects. Staffing issues related to such projects is a subject Lanza said she’d like to see the Board discuss.

Select Board member Tom Ulfelder, citing expertise from former Wellesley Executive Director Hans Larsen, commented that turnback isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and that tightening budgets too much on departments can lead to them maxing out their spending. Doing your best to predict budgetary needs, even if the budget goes over what is ultimately needed, can lead to more natural spending, he said.

Select Board member Beth Sullivan Woods said it might behoove the town and its residents for Wellesley leadership to share an outlook on its projects in light of the rising cost of living in Wellesley. “I think it would be good to show what our plan is for the projects, where our bandwidth is expected to be able to absorb projects, and how we anticipate funding them. Because as they push out, I think it’s reasonable to expect they will become more expensive…Maybe not, maybe all the cost of inflation we’re seeing now and the delayed delivery timing will push some of those costs down a little bit, but I think we should just be able to provide that update and that transparency both to us and to the community what the capital plan looks like now, because I think things are changing and they probably are different than what we saw at Annual Town Meeting in the financial plan.”

Ulfelder said the Board could discuss this, but addressing this issue is more for the town’s Permanent Building Committee. “What they have explained consistently is that they’re not saying ‘no’ to projects, they’re pushing them out a year. What we’re finding is that boards are going to the PBC and advocating as you would hope they would for their projects and looking for answers as to why they are being pushed out…” The PBC has consistently said that COVID has pushed projects out, he added.

Board member Colette Aufranc said, “I’m really interested in seeing what we can do to apply the excess reserves to capital projects, as we’ve always said we would do, and modify the short-term borrowing impacts for the taxpayers in town.”

Town Executive Director Meghan Jop said that looking forward, the town needs to determine year by year as part of its financial plan whether spending on big projects will come from its tax base or through borrowing.


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Filed Under: Finance, Government

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Wellesley Community Bulletin Board

May 26, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Check out the Community Bulletin Board section on The Swellesley Report, a place to find out about exciting events going on in the area.

Featured this week:

The Concord Review History Camp

Summer seminar for middle school students. See the flyer.
Promotes a love for history by allowing students to conduct in-depth  research into their chosen historical topic.
stevenlee@tcr.org


MassBay Community College

Welcome back! Fall semester is on campus and online. See the flyer.
Classes start Sept. 7, 2021. Register now.
Start here, go anywhere


Aulegatum Financial Partners presents free movie screening event

The timeless classic, Think and Grow Rich is now a movie.
Screening date: June 25, 2021, 9:30pm
Free ticket here.


Wellesley Square salon news

Spacious, bright, and sunny hair salon overlooking the village in Wellesley Square has one chair available for the right stylist …. interested parties please call or text 781-223-8558

Here’s how to have your business or non-profit’s flyer appear on The Swellesley Report’s Community Bulletin Board at a nominal rate

Filed Under: Camp, Churches, Entertainment, Finance

Page Waterman, Wellesley
London Harness, Wellesley
Wellesley Lacrosse

Sustainable Wellesley panel presentation—”Banking On Our Values”

January 21, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Sustainable Wellesley

The community is invited to Banking on Our Values, a panel discussion focused on investing in companies that prioritize climate action and equity. Financial experts Heidi Vanni, Chief Client Officer at Boston Trust Walden; Sumeit Aggarwal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Finhive; and Glenn Migliozzi, Lecturer in the Finance Division at Babson College, will share their expertise and field questions on the non-financial factors that influence investment decisions. Personal and professional investors will learn from this conversation on the short- and long-term benefits of incorporating these investment strategies and how one may begin to embrace them.

Organizers and moderators Jacob Nichols, President of the Babson Sustainability Club and Sustainability intern at Babson; and Jacob Landau, a Sustainable Wellesley intern, speaker at the October 2020 Wellesley Climate Rally, and Wellesley High School junior, will guide the conversation about how values-based investing can maintain or improve financial returns while better meeting social impact goals.

Register for this free event here. Sign up today. Space is limited to 100 participants.

Questions? Contact info@sustainablewellesley.org.

Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity, Environment, Finance

Wellesley Friendly Aid

Wellesley residents get real estate taxes due date extension to June 1

May 1, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

town hall springYour Wellesley real estate bill may reflect a due date of May 1, 2020, but due to COVID-19, you’ve got an extension until June 1 to make that payment.

Under the State of Massachusetts “An Act to Address Challenges Faced by Municipalities and State Authorities Resulting From COVID-19,” Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2020, the Town of Wellesley has adopted local options to extend due dates for real and personal property tax payments and applications for exemptions/deferrals.

How to pay your taxes by June 1 in Wellesley:

  1. You can pay your taxes online.
  2. You can pay by check and drop the payment in the US mail.
  3. You can pay by check and drop the payment into the box in front of Town Hall.

Typically you also have the option to hand deliver your check (or cash) directly to a live person at the Treasure’s office at Town Hall. Given that Town Hall has been closed to the public since March 17 and will continue to be closed for the foreseeable future, in-person transactions are not possible right now.

Filed Under: COVID-19, Finance, Government, Real estate

Places for notary services in Wellesley, Massachusetts

July 7, 2019 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

This post was updated May 2022.

When a business matter requires a notary, you don’t have to leave Wellesley to find one. There are plenty of places in town ready and willing to help out including the Wellesley Library and Town Hall.

A notary serves as a third-party witness to not only verify the signature of a legal document, but to attest to the fact that all parties who signed did so willingly and under their own power and that the signatures are authentic. When getting something notarized, make sure you bring identification such as:

  • State-issued driver’s license.
  • State-issued identification card.
  • U.S. military identification card.
  • Resident alien identification card (green card)
  • U.S. passport.

Here are some places in Wellesley where you can get documents notarized:

The Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.

The Wellesley Free Library now offers notary services available by appointment, subject to the availability of the notary. To make an appointment or for more information, email adiola@wellesleyma.gov  or call the library at 781-235-1610 x. 1117
Note: they generally can’t notarize for real estate purposes. When you contact them, spell out what you need to spare yourself an unnecessary trip.

The Town Clerk’s office, Town Hall, 525 Washington St.

The Town Clerk’s office also provides notary public services at no charge.  Please call in advance to be sure a notary will be available for you. 781-431-1019 ext. 2219.

Wellesley notaries, if you don’t see yourself on this list, please email us at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com for inclusion.

Wellesley Bank locations

Almost all the many, many full-service banks in Wellesley have a notary on staff during banking hours. Some banks are very casual about the service and will help you out whether or not you have an account. Others prefer to notarize only for their account holders. In general, banks can handle anything that needs to be notarized. Just let them know ahead of time if you need two witnesses because if the bank is busy, they won’t be able to pull tellers out from behind the counter without advance warning.

Here are Wellesley banks, real estate agents, and an on-line resource that offer notary services:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Finance

Deland, Gibson, Wellesley
Rick Cram, leader

Wellesley College reaches $500 million fundraising goal

July 14, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley College Tower, WellesleyWellesley College has announced the conclusion of its $500 million fundraising campaign, the largest ever undertaken by a women’s college.

The college exceeded its goal by over $14 million, raising $514,485,911 in all to support its stated mission to educate and empower women leaders..

“This campaign will touch the lives of countless Wellesley students, present and future,” said Paula A. Johnson, president of Wellesley College, “and strengthens the College across all dimensions.”

Funds raised through the campaign will advance Wellesley’s academic program including faculty and student research and scholarship; will allow for increased financial aid; sponsor career education initiatives; and improve campus buildings.

Filed Under: Education, Finance, Fundraising, Wellesley College

From the Cliff (Estates) of Wellesley to a courtroom in Ireland: David Drumm found guilty of fraud

June 7, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

We first reported about former Anglo Irish Bank head David Drumm when in October 2015 he was arrested at his $2 million Wellesley home at the request of Irish authorities. Drumm had been living in Wellesley for six years, much to the chagrin of Irish financial regulators who accused him of all sorts of shenanigans that allegedly went down with Anglo Irish Bank, eventually leading the Irish government to prop it up during that country’s banking crisis earlier in the 2000s.

After his arrest, he remained in a Massachusetts jail until, weary of that, he asked in February 2016 to be sent home to face the music. At that time he was extradited to Ireland to answer to more than two dozen criminal charges overseas related to that bank’s messy demise.

Now the Irish Times reports that “…the 51-year old former banker from Dublin was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting relating to banking transactions he was involved in at the height of the 2008 financial crisis…the jury convicted him over a series of circular transactions that made Anglo’s deposits look €7.2 billion larger than they were in September 2008.”

He had denied the charges of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. Drumm is out on bail and will be sentenced on June 20.

Filed Under: Crime, Finance, Police

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