By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – The Town will pull out of the regional Veterans Service District that it is currently part of in favor of funding a full-time Veterans Service Officer dedicated to Wakefield. The move came last week as the Town Council approved five departmental budgets for FY2026.
Assistant Town Administrator/Chief Financial Officer Kevin Gill presented the numbers for each budget beginning with Veterans Services.
Alongside Gill for the discussion of the Veterans Service budget were Wakefield Veterans Service Officer David Mangan and Gayle Angelo, director of the regional Veterans Service District that includes Melrose, Wakefield and Saugus.
Gill said that the total request for the FY2026 Veterans Service budget was $169,952, which reflects a reduction of $29,022 from the FY2025 budget.
Mangan argued that his present 18-hour-a-week schedule is not sufficient to handle the work of providing services to Wakefield veterans and their survivors. He noted that he puts in many unpaid hours.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski agreed that 18 hours a week was not sufficient to serve Wakefield’s veterans. He argued for pulling out of the regional district and using the $58,598 that Wakefield currently pays Melrose to administer the district to turn Mangan’s part-time position into a full-time Veterans Services Officer for Wakefield.
There was some discussion of continuing the current arrangement for one more year, with a commitment from Melrose that Angelo would provide additional assistance in the Wakefield office.
Town Councilor Douglas Butler noted that the amount of money that Wakefield is paying out in direct services to veterans and survivors has gone down.
“Veterans are being served,” he said. But Mangan said that was the case only because he puts in unpaid hours.
Dombroski made a motion to approve the Veterans Services budget with the provision that Wakefield pull out of the regional district and re-allocate the funds that it was paying Melrose to manage the district toward the salary of a dedicated, full-time Veterans Service Officer for Wakefield.
The Town Council approved Dombroski’s motion by a vote of 6-1, with Butler opposed.
Next was the Health and Human Services budget. Gill said that the total budget request of $491,896 was $18,249 less than last year’s budget in part due to a reduction in the personal services line item as a result of several new employees starting at lower salaries than their predecessors.
Health and Human Services Department Director Anthony Chui introduced several HHS staff members and talked about the work that the department does.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the budget.
The Town Council also approved the $7,514,546 Public Works Department operating budget, which included an increase of $255,567.
With Public Works Director Joseph Conway and DPW Business Manager Ann Waitt on hand to answer questions, Gill also presented several other budgets managed by the Public Works Department.
The Snow and Ice budget was approved at a level-funded $350,000.
The Town Council also approved the self-funded Water Department and Sewer Department budgets. The $9,536,482 Sewer Department budget included an increase of $162,303. The total Water Department budget was $7,893,691, including an increase of $471,002.
After a brief discussion, the Town Council approved the $8,808,488 Retirement budget with an increase of $518,694.
The final and largest budget was that of the Human Resources Department. HR Director Amy Forziati was on hand as Gill presented the total budget request of $17,104,801, which included an increase of $1,187,640.
It was noted that health insurance costs have increased by 14 percent for active employees and 13 percent for retiree plans. Despite the steep increases from the General Insurance Commission, there was general agreement that the town is still much better off having moved to the GIC years ago.
Councilor Edward Dombroski expressed concern about the lower amount ($500,000) earmarked for the town’s OPEB account. But Councilor Douglas Butler noted that Wakefield is in much better shape than most other communities in terms of funding its Other post-employment benefits. Other post-employment benefits include benefits provided to retirees by employers other than pensions, such as healthcare, life insurance, and disability coverage.
The Town Council approved the Human Resources Department Budget.
All departmental budgets will go before the voters at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting as part of the overall FY2026 town budget.