HARWICH – Harwich town officials discussed financial assessment of the town in preparation for the 2022 Annual Town Meeting.
Town Administrator Joe Powers updated the select board on estimated revenues, showing that the town is on track to match its forecasts.
“We saw a nice uptick in the first quarter of over 29 percent, however the overall message is we are on track when regards to estimated revenues,” said Powers.
In the memorandum provided to the select board on the assessment, Powers recommended that salaries and wages for employees remain at current base level while negotiation efforts continue with collective bargaining groups, which are expected to continue into December. After negotiations complete, it will be reviewed.
As to health insurance rates involving the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group, Powers said the town is expecting slight increases.
“We’re anticipating a 6 percent increase in health insurance rates and we hope they don’t exceed that, but again we don’t know at present time.”
The new Cape Cod Regional Tech Vocational School building has also made an impact on financial assessments, which Powers said is a mixed result.
“The good news is that the beautiful new building is attracting more Harwich students going there, which means bad news for me because that means the assessment for Cape Tech is going up,” said Powers.
“However, for me personally, that’s a good statement for our community, because we have more of our residents taking advantage of the great programs there.”
As the national and local economy faces inflation rates unseen in decades as well as tight labor markets, Powers said the town should stay adaptable, and that it would be prudent to develop a policy statement on base salaries and expenses as negotiations go on.
The board voted to take Powers’ recommendation as the board’s policy.
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