DALTON, Mass. — The Finance Committee made two reserve fund transfers last Wednesday night. 

 

The reserve fund balance is currently $60,000. This is the first reserve fund transfer the town has made this fiscal year, committee clerk Karen Schmidt said. 

 

A transfer to the vocational education tuition account for $16,000 was approved. The original appropriation was $605,020 and the present balance is $4,527. 

 

It had been previously demonstrated that setting the budget for this account can be challenging due to the uncertainty about how many students will choose to attend vocational education programs.

 

The vocational education account was reduced by $90,000 during a September special town meeting; however, a spot opened up at a vocational program, so a student decided to transfer after the start of the second quarter. 

 

A transfer for the employee fringe benefits account was approved for $10,000. The original appropriation was $64,180. 

 

The present balance is $4,412.77 and is not sufficient to cover the vacation payouts and sick buy backs of the six employees who left this year. 

 

"We've actually had a lot of turnover, and due to that large amount of turnover reduced our balance to about $4,000 in that account and we're anticipating even more outlay for this upcoming season," Chair William Drosehn III said.

 

“We're not sure what it's going to look like toward the end of this fiscal year. So hopefully this will get us through till May."

 

Since July 1, retirements and departures included the town accountant, treasure, health agent, highway operator, dispatcher, and interim town manager.