Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Fire Chief David Durgin tells the town administrator that the department is "well past the crossroads point."
In a December 2011 memo written to Town Administrator John Coderre, Northborough's Fire Chief David Durgin detailed a 10-point request for the FY2013 budget. Among the requests was a "reminder" that the department was promised six additional firefighters with the development of the Avalon Bay apartments and Northborough Crossing. In 2013, Durgin repeated his requests for the FY2014 budget, following up his level budget requests with a "budget discussion points" memo to Coderre, in which he wrote, "I informed you last year that the department was at a crossroad relating to Avalon Bay and Northborough Crossing and their anticipated service demand impacts upon the fire and ambulance services provided by the daprtment. With continued overall …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Officials present a budget that is a little more than 4 percent increase over last year.
OPEB is coming. OPEB is coming. OPEB stands for "Other Post Employment Benefits," and it means that Northborough will join the commonwealth in a retiree benefit liability in years to come. It is unavoidable, mandated, and to the tune of nearly $30 million. Coderre is hoping the town will support a meals and hotel tax to help, in part, fund the mandate. OPEB is one of the many moving pieces, both predictable and completely the opposite, that reflect Town Administrator John Coderre and his financial team's approach to a balanced budget, which he presented on Monday night at the Board of Selectmen meeting. Coderre, in this joint public hearing with the Appropriations Committee, proposed a FY2014 budget of $51,802,233, a 4.6 percent increase …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The town sets a single tax rate again for Northborough.
Property owners in Northborough will see a one percent tax increase over last year in the FY2013 budget, as approved by the Board of Selectmen Monday night. With recommendations from the Board of Assessors and Town Administrator John Coderre, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to accept the single tax rate of $16.11, up from $15.11 in FY2012. This will mean an average impact of $67, which is $126 less than estimated at Town Meeting. The tax bill for a single family home, which is assessed at $383,646, will be $6,181, an increase of $67. Coderre pointed out that in a five year span of FY2005 to FY2010, the average increase was around $220 each year. Within the past three years, the increase has been $189 combined. "The total increase …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Northborough's town administrator responds to budget adjustments announced by Patrick on Tuesday.
In anticipation of the “fiscal cliff” combined with projected tax revenues that are more than half a billion dollars lower than previously expected, Gov. Deval Patrick released a revised budget designed to deal with the gap Tuesday. “The uncertainty of the fiscal cliff and the resulting slow down in growth, is the direct cause of our budget challenges,” Patrick said. “Congress and the President must come to terms on a solution so the private sector will continue to make the kind of investments that create jobs, grow state and federal tax revenue collections and contribute to a lasting economic recovery." The state is now expecting to bring in roughly 21.5 billion in tax revenue, and Patrick's plan to bridge the gap between this amount and …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Tuesday in the heart of July...almost. What are you going to do about it?
Our morning column, 5 Things You Need to Know, provides you with information that can help you plan your day and give you some fodder for water cooler conversations. 1. Show off your car and check out other wheels at the weekly Cruise Night at Mama's Pizzeria. 2. Town Administrator John Coderre is this week's guest speaker at the Northborough Rotary Club's meeting, held at 12:15 p.m. at Romaine's Wood Bar and Grill 3. According to Tougas Family Farm's Facebook page, the farm will be letting fruit ripen until Wednesday, July 11, "when we will once again be picking blueberries 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We will begin pick-your-own peaches on Thursday at 9 a.m. Blackberry picking will be starting soon also." 4. The 'Bouroughs Cup Tournament continues …
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
For the second year in a row, the town of Northborough earned the Distinguished Budget Award.
Just because you win the Distinguished Budget Award one year, it doesn't mean you can sit on your laurels, fill in the dots and easily nab it the next, explained Town Administrator John Coderre. For the second consecutive year, Northborough won the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States' Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its FY2012 budget. "The award represents a significant achievement by the town," said the GFOA's release. "It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting." In order to achieve the award, Northborough had to satisfy a rigid list of nationally recognized guidelines. "It's the highest award you can receive in public …
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
In a meeting of "it's all good news," the town administrator shares the squeaky clean audit with the Board of Selectmen, and the town.
Town Accountant Jason Little ran through the numbers of what proved to be a squeaky clean audit for FY2011 for the town of Northborough, to the delight of Town Administrator John Coderre. Conducted by a contracted CPA firm, the management letter was "positive, and said the financial information presented is fair and accurate with no major surprises, and no material weaknesses." Coderre, a self-described "budget nerd" said, "You are looking at one of the ew people who gets excited about budgets and audits. If you do it well, what you achieve is what you get excited about. This is the gold standard. This is the cleanest audit you will ever see in a municipal setting. I couldn't be happier, and I think it reflects well upon the town and the …
Monday, November 28, 2011
Northborough does not offer roadside debris pick-up, but the town administrator said few towns do, and this one is no different.
Several people have complained to Northborough Patch, and elsewhere, that while it is nice that Northborough added additional drop-off times for debris considering the storm that hit last month, it would be more helpful if the debris could be picked up. That service, unlike in some towns, is not offered in Northborough. Town Administrator John Coderre said Northborough is no different than most of the surrounding communities. "The town of Northborough is handling it the same way all the other surrounding communities are," said Coderre. "Grafton, Marlborough, Westborough, Southborough—they are all allowing residents to bring brush to a transfer station or DPW yard, free of charge. The only town that I'm aware of in our area that is picking …
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Here's a Patch-style package running down what you most likely missed at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday night.
You probably don't have time to get out to the bi-monthly Board of Selectmen meeting. No bother. Patch does it for you. Here's an easy to swallow breakdown of what went down at the June 27 meeting. The Boroughs Buried: The board unanimously squashed Gina Marie Eilert's plans for a part time bar in town when it denied an alcohol license. Eilert had wanted to open up The Boroughs at 261 Main St. to run what she called a "neighborhood style bar" open on Friday and Saturday nights only. Based on discrepancies that popped up in an interview with Detective Brian Griffin (who spoke at the meeting) and the fact that Eilert holds a fulltime job with an hour commute, the board felt the license should be denied. Eilert once ran The Club Car in …
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Northborough Town Administrator
63 Main St, Northborough, MA
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It's that time of year for the Board to dish out the Town Administrator's annual evaluation, and it was stellar - and genuine.
They really meant it. Having covered the Board of Selectmen and town now for nearly eight months, it becomes more apparent the way Northborough ticks. And it has much to do with the camaraderie and mutual respect among the municipal employees, including the Board of Selectmen with John Coderre, the town's adminstrator. Every year, certain town officials must undergo the sometimes-uncomfortable public evaluation. The Board of Selectmen presented Coderre with his at the last board meeting, and the administrator received a rating of 4.6 out of a possible 5, with a 4 being "exceeds job standards" and 5 being "outstanding." "I’m pleased to announce," said Chairman Jeff Amberson, "and not that it should be a surprise, is that he got an excellent…
Carol C
12:24 pm on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
WRITE selectmen and Coderre on these issues!! Go to a selectmen meeting. Who's on the committee? Can anyone be on it? Where has the money gone? Let's fix this before we have a terrible preventable accident and a law suit or two. more ›