The Norwood Finance Commission (FinCom) formally voted yesterday to recommend that the upcoming Special Town Meeting approve the appropriation of funds necessary to cover the seven percent salary increases negotiated for local firefighters.

According to the proposal outlined by Town Manager John P. Mogan, the town requires an additional $7,559 to increase the number of personnel on each working shift from 12 to 13. FinCom member Allan D. Howard explained that the board voted to recommend this appropriation in a telephone poll of its members, provided that the Board of Selectmen and the fire chief present the request with complete transparency and detail.

The financial request involves a total of $71,005, which Allan D. Howard noted exceeds seven percent of the fire department’s original wage appropriation of $906,371 authorized during the Annual Town Meeting. Selectman William F. Butters had also previously addressed the request but was unable to clarify the breakdown for any of the specific town meeting requests. Allan D. Howard raised concerns regarding whether the additional funds—specifically those not directly attributable to the seven percent salary increases—could be legally acted upon by the Special Town Meeting due to the restrictive nature of the warrant article. Furthermore, Allan D. Howard indicated that there are additional non-salary funds being sought within the School Committee’s $617,848 request for the same meeting, suggesting that a detailed explanation of these figures is essential for town meeting members before they cast their votes on the appropriations.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger

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