Manchester Finance Committee Approves Council on Aging, Health, and Library Budgets

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — January 22, 2026 — Manchester-by-the-Sea's Finance Committee unanimously approved three operating budgets at its January 22 meeting and debated a potential overhaul of how the town finances affordable housing and the downtown rotunda project. Chair Sarah Mellish and the seven-member panel voted 7-0 to approve the Council on Aging budget at $234,068, the Health Department budget at $214,013, and the Library budget at $584,162 — the last including an $8,656 addition for Saturday summer hours that Town Administrator Tony Gioiello had not recommended. Finance Director Andrea Mainville noted the town faces a roughly $732,000 budget gap for fiscal year 2027, driven primarily by school costs and a planned $420,000 OPEB trust contribution. Community Preservation Committee Chair Jack Burke presented a provisional $620,000 CPC budget including $200,000 for the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust, but several committee members, led by member Gar Morse, pushed back sharply, with Morse calling the trust "a failed effort" that has "never produced a single unit" of affordable housing despite holding roughly $1.7 million in accumulated funds. The committee's informal consensus was to suggest the CPC reduce the housing contribution to the statutory minimum of approximately $56,000 and direct remaining cash toward the $3.6 million rotunda reconstruction, which must go to bid by June 2026 before permits expire in April 2027.