Manchester-by-the-Sea Finance Committee Approves Four FY27 Operating Budgets, Defers Harbor Capital

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — January 29, 2026 — Manchester-by-the-Sea Finance Committee approves four FY27 operating budgets totaling roughly $1.2 million. The committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve the Harbor Department operations budget at $317,838, the launch service at $53,000, the Finance/Accounting Department at $295,665, and the Treasurer/Collector at $242,525, along with $313,503 in non-appropriated state and county assessments. Harbormaster Byron Pike argued for evening patrol hours extended to 10 p.m. on Friday through Sunday — a proposal Town Administrator Tony Barletta did not include in his recommendation, citing budget constraints — but the committee accepted the TA figure while expressing support for the concept. A proposed $3.8 million dredging project, expected to draw a $1.9 million MassWorks state match, was discussed at length but not voted on, with capital decisions deferred pending a permitting update from the town engineer and a Department of Public Works budget session later in the month. Finance Director Andrea Mainbill reported that the town's insurance board voted to exclude GLP-1 medications effective July 1, dropping the maximum projected health insurance premium increase from 20.2 percent to 14.5 percent.