Select Board Reviews FY2025 Budget Proposal, Begins Review of Annual Town Meeting Articles, and Approves Appointment of Kyle Murphy as Andover Fire Chief

ANDOVER, MA – The Andover Select Board met on Monday, February 26 at the Andover Public School Administrative Offices. The Board began its review of Town Manager Andrew Flanagan’s recommended Budget and Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2025, receiving an overview of the $246.7 million proposal. The budget will be examined in further detail during a joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee at Memorial Hall Library on Saturday morning. The Board also began its review of warrant articles that will be considered during the Annual Town Meeting, reviewing eight articles and voting to recommend Town Meeting’s approval of each. 

In a significant personnel development, the Select Board voted to approve the Town Manager’s appointment of Kyle Murphy as Andover’s Fire Chief. Murphy will succeed Chief Michael Mansfield, who will retire in July following more than 17 years of service to the Andover Fire Rescue Department.

FY2025 Budget Recommendation  
Town Manager Andrew Flanagan presented an overview of his recommended budget and financial plan for Fiscal Year 2025. The proposal was initially released on February 2. The Board’s discussion of the budget on Monday marks the first step in a multi-phase process through which the Board will review the proposal before issuing a recommendation for action by Town Meeting.

The FY2025 budget recommendation totals $246,682,934, representing a $11,930,857, or 5.08 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

The budget includes a 3.8 percent increase to the School Department budget and a 2.75 percent increase to Town Department budget. The additional increase is attributable to exempt debt service for the West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool project, the Water Enterprise Fund, and an appropriation to the Pension Obligation Bond Stabilization Fund.

According to Flanagan, the projected average single-family tax bill increase for FY2025 is 5.22 percent. Approximately 3.5 percent of this increase is attributable to the development of the operating budget, consistent with the ten-year average, while the remainder reflects approved debt service for the West Elementary/Shawsheen Preschool building project, and the continuation of the Senior Tax Exemption. 

The Select Board will convene in a joint session with the Finance Committee on Saturday, March 2 at 9:00 AM at Memorial Hall Library to review the budget proposal in greater detail. During this session, all Town Departments and Andover Public Schools will present an overview of their budgets, along with an update on their goals and objectives for the year. The meeting will be broadcast live by AndoverTV and available for streaming on demand.

 Click here to view the FY2025 Recommended Budget and Financial Plan

Annual Town Meeting Warrant Articles
The Select Board began its review of articles that will appear on the 2024 Annual Town Meeting warrant. The warrant contains a total of 35 articles. The Board considered and voted to recommend approval of eight articles on Monday. 

 Chapter 90 Authorizations – This is a standing article considered each year that allows the Town to take any easements related to Chapter 90 projects (i.e., capital improvements to local roadways). 

 Granting Easements – This is a reoccurring article that allows the Select Board to grant easements.

Stabilization Fund Bond Premium – This article authorizes the transfer of $100,000 from the Bond Premium Stabilization Fund to the General Fund to offset non-exempt debt interest payments. 

 Jerry Silverman Fireworks – This is an annual appropriation article to fund the fireworks display during the Town’s Fourth of July celebration. 

Home Rule Legislation Appointment of Town Employees and Officials – This article would implement a recommendation of Town Governance Study Committee to limit the Select Board’s approval of employee appointments by the Town Manager to: the Deputy Town Manager, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Town Clerk, Town Counsel, and Finance Director. Employee appointments that no longer require Select Board approval will continue to be published on Select Board agendas. This measure is intended to align the employee appointment process with the Select Board’s policymaking role and the Town Manager’s administrative role, and to prevent delays in hiring candidates during competitive employee searches. This change does not alter the Select Board’s role in appointments to all Town boards, committees, and commissions. 

Bylaw Amendment Other Public Spaces Revolving Fund – This article would authorize the creation of a new revolving fund for revenue from rentals and space use fees generated at Town facilities that could be used for custodial fees, building maintenance fees, and capital improvements.

 Bylaw Amendment Revolving Fund Revenues and Expenditures – This article seeks to amend revenue and expense uses for existing revolving funds related to Community Services and the Compost program to better align the funds with current needs of Town programs. The proposed amendments will allow the Town to use program and user fees to reinvest in programs and facilities. 

Indemnification of Public Safety Medical Costs – This article seeks to create a dedicated funding source for medical costs of public safety personnel who are injured in the line of duty. Presently, when a Police or Fire officer is injured, relevant Town costs must be paid for through the Town’s operating budget. This approach is intended to create a more sustainable accounting method to fund these medical costs while avoiding detrimental impacts to departmental budgets. 

The Select Board’s review of warrant articles will continue throughout upcoming meetings. The recommendations issued by the Board will be published in the Finance Committee Report, and presented during Town Meeting.

Annual Town Meeting will begin on April 29 at 7:00 PM, and will be held at the Collins Center for the Performing Arts at Andover High School. The preliminary warrant can now be viewed online.

Fire Chief Appointment
The Select Board voted to approve the Town Manager’s appointment of Kyle Murphy as Andover’s next Fire Chief. A standing room only crowd of Andover Firefighters, family members, and other members of the community flooded the meeting room to support the incoming Chief. 

Kyle Murphy has served in the Andover Fire Rescue Department for twenty-six years, including six years as Deputy Chief. He joined the Department as a full-time Firefighter and EMT in 1998, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2013, and to Deputy Fire Chief in 2017. Murphy has extensive training in the fire service field and has earned numerous certifications including Fire Officer I and II, Fire Instructor I, Incident Safety Officer, and Fire Prevention Officer. In 2018, Murphy completed the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Chief Fire Officer Training Program, a rigorous 14-week program.

Murphy will succeed Chief Michael Mansfield, who announced last year that he will retire effective July 6, 2024. Mansfield will work alongside Murphy throughout a 90-day transition period beginning April 1. 

Read more about the appointment of Kyle Murphy as Fire Chief. 

Other Notes

• The Select Board considered a series of changes to traffic rules and regulations related to parking presented by Andover Police Department Safety Officer Glen Ota. Six of these changes pertain to the reconfiguration of parking along Barnard Street and Park Street produced by the recently completed Downtown Parking Lot project. These changes create loading zones in certain areas, designate a 15-minute parking space on Park Street, create two electric vehicle spaces in the new parking lot, and restrict the area immediately behind Old Town Hall to municipal vehicles only. On the condition that the change would be reviewed in six months, the Board approved a measure to impose a one-hour parking limit during certain hours of the day on portions of Barnard Street, Park Street, and Bartlet Street. 
• The Board voted to delegate authority to the Town Manager to evaluate bids for an electricity supplier for Andover Community Power. The Town received notice that the Department of Public Utilities issued final approval to Andover’s Municipal Aggregation Plan in January, and intends to begin the public procurement process with the goal of selecting a supplier in March.

The full meeting can be viewed online through AndoverTV.

 Following its joint meeting with the Finance Committee on Saturday, the Board is scheduled to meet next on Monday, March 4, 2024.