Manchester Finance Committee Approves FY27 Police and Town Clerk Budgets

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — January 15, 2026 — Manchester Finance Committee approves FY27 police budget at $2.1 million amid persistent staffing shortages. The committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve police department salaries at $2,109,655 and expenses at $135,000, after Police Chief Fitzgerald and Lieutenant Martin McClure warned that the department is operating at its contractual minimum of 13 patrol officers following two recent departures, producing overtime costs of $233,000 in 2024 and $239,000 in 2025. McClure said raising patrol strength to 17 officers — the department's "gold standard" — would "really see a dip in the overtime," but base pay that is "considerably low compared to our surrounding communities" hampers recruitment, with one former officer leaving for Essex specifically for higher base wages. The committee also approved the town clerk budget at $167,752 and a parking enforcement budget of $70,831, while Finance Director Andrea Mainville reported that the town's license-plate-reading parking sticks have turned a net negative — losing roughly $19,000 to $24,000 per year — after producing small surpluses in the two years before the devices were deployed.