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Deep dive

What we paid, and the choices we made

Through Jun 9, Marblehead paid $99.9M to vendors in FY26. Inside General Fund – Town alone, $37.6M went to four line items the town can't meaningfully alter in a single year: state-set insurance premiums, PERAC pension, bond debt service, and Cherry Sheet assessments. The rest is bucketed below by the authorization that put it on the books, and tagged with when that authorization was made.

FY26 (July 2025 through June 2026) is a completed fiscal year, and FY26 figures remain subject to year-end close adjustments recorded through fall 2026.

Figures: Jun 9, 2026 export · raw transaction ledger · year-end view JSON · fund → vote mapping · how this is computed

Of the $99.9M paid in FY26, here's what put each dollar on the books

Six kinds of authorization, sorted by share of FY26 spend.

Debt exclusions (voted at the ballot) Town Meeting, you, in person, if you went Ratepayer, not your tax bill State / federal grants Revolving (recreation / trash fees) Trusts & donations

Debt exclusions (voted at the ballot)

$6.73M6.7% of FY26 spend

Who chose this: Marblehead voters at past ballot elections, approving debt exclusions to fund specific capital projects outside Proposition 2½.

When setPast ballot elections (2015–2025). Once a debt exclusion passes, the bond term locks payments in for 10–30 years. FY26 is the year on the amortization schedule, not the year of the decision.

Project status, inferred from FY26 ledger activity

A11 2022 Capital Improvement (omnibus)

Ballot 6/21/2022 passed · roofs, roads/sidewalks, smart panels, HVAC, salt shed, HS boiler

Active · last paid 18d ago

FY26 spend: $4.94M across 84 payments to multiple GCs: D&R General Contracting ($1.30M), Homer Contracting ($0.95M), Raymond Design Associates ($0.90M), MDM Engineering ($0.82M). Pattern says: bundle of sub-projects all in heavy execution. First FY26 payment Aug 12, 2025; most recent May 27, 2026.

Decision sealed 6/21/2022 at the ballot. Municipal capital bonds in MA typically run 10–20 years; debt service on these will appear in U.S. Bank rows through the late 2030s.

A34 2015 New Transfer Station + drainage

Ballot 6/16/2015 passed · transfer-station construction + drainage pipe replacement

Active · last paid 26d ago

FY26 spend: $1.33M across 42 payments, with $1.25M (94%) to Delulis Brothers Construction. Eleven years after the bond, the project is still drawing down. Most recent payment May 19, 2026. Worth a separate question to the Town Administrator on which scope is still active vs. what's been closed out.

Decision sealed 6/16/2015 at the ballot. Eleven fiscal years on, construction draws are still moving, either a phased build-out or a scope amendment under the original authorization.

A33 2025 Mary Alley Building Improv + HVAC

Ballot 6/10/2025 passed · town's most recent debt exclusion

Active · design phase

FY26 spend: $0.44M across 9 payments, almost entirely ($0.41M, 92%) to NV5 (an OPM/design firm). First FY26 payment Sep 29 2025 (Sep is right after the June ballot). No GC yet, so this is in design / owner's-rep phase, pre-construction.

Decision sealed 6/10/2025 at the ballot, the town's most recent debt exclusion. Bond is in pre-issuance design phase; debt service will start showing in U.S. Bank rows once construction draws begin.

A35 2021 Abbot Public Library Renovation

Ballot 6/22/2021 passed · ~$8.5M bond, the library reopened in 2023

Closing out

FY26 spend: $16,747 across 5 payments: safe & lock, electrical service, landscaping, small equipment. Building is operational; these are punch-list / warranty close-outs. Last payment Jan 28, 2026 (no activity in 4+ months). The big project is done.

Decision sealed 6/22/2021 at the ballot. Project fund essentially closed; bond debt service on the $8.5M continues in U.S. Bank rows for the remainder of the amortization term (typically 20 years).

A36 2019 MWRA Loan project

Ballot 6/18/2019 cycle · MWRA borrowing for water-system work

Engineering phase

FY26 spend: $0.24M across 6 payments, 100% to Haley Ward (engineering firm). New activity this fiscal year (first FY26 payment Jan 27, 2026, last Mar 19, 2026). Looks like design/study work, not construction yet.

Decision sealed 6/18/2019 cycle. MWRA loan repayment is via water rates rather than the property-tax levy, so this one shows up in the Ratepayer bucket on the bond-service side.

Status labels are inferred from last-payment-date freshness, vendor mix (GC vs. engineering firm vs. punch-list), and row count. Original bond authorization amounts and project budgets are not in the ledger; cross-checking against DOR Prop 2½ ballot history and bond issuance docs would let us add “X% of authorization spent” on each project.

What's in this bucket (top funds by FY26 spend)
  • A11 2022 Capital Improvement Ballot June 21, 2022, debt exclusion passed. Roof replacements, road/sidewalk improvements, smart panels, HVAC, salt shed, HS boiler. (DOR Prop 2½ Debt Exclusion Votes) $4.94M
  • A34 2015 New Transfer Station Ballot June 16, 2015, debt exclusion passed. Bonds for transfer station construction + drainage pipe replacement. $1.33M
  • A33 2025 Mary Alley Bldg Improv Ballot June 10, 2025, debt exclusion passed. Mary Alley Building improvements + HVAC. $0.44M
  • A36 2019 MWRA Loan project Engineering work this fiscal year (Haley Ward). $0.24M
  • A35 2021 Abbot Library Renovation Closing-out punch-list spend; the building reopened in 2023. $0.02M

Caveat: this is a floor, not a ceiling.

FY26 also paid $14.24M to U.S. Bank in bond service across many bond series (Abbot Library 2021, Fort Sewall 2019, Gerry School 2016, Pleasant St 2012, and others). Some of that debt service traces to ballot-approved exclusions and some to in-levy Town Meeting articles; the ledger doesn't split bond-by-bond, so it can't be apportioned cleanly without an external debt schedule.

Ratified at Town Meeting (this year's annual budget package)

$54.29M54.3% of FY26 spend

What actually happened at Town Meeting: voters who showed up to the May 2025 Annual Town Meeting approved the omnibus budget article (one dollar amount per department) and a handful of capital articles. Marblehead runs Open Town Meeting under MGL c.39: any registered voter can attend and vote, no delegates. Town Meeting's authority is to ratify (or amend on the floor, rarely) the FinCom-recommended package. Granular wage scales, position counts, and vendor selection happen upstream of the warrant.

When setAnnual cycle, May 2025 for FY26. But the package Town Meeting voted on was mostly already locked: CBAs that set wages were signed in prior years; bond debt service was scheduled when the bonds were issued; GIC premiums get set by the state board; state assessments come in by formula. See the choice qualifier below for the carve-out.

Choice qualifier: essentially none of this $43.91M was a fresh Town Meeting decision this year

Inside General Fund – Town, $37.63M (86%) was set by outside boards or past ballots, $4.43M (10%) is multi-year contracts the Town Administrator signed in prior years (trash, IT/SaaS, dental, deferred-comp admin, audit, legal), and $1.85M (4%) is recurring professional services, refunds, commodities, and interfund transfers. The portion that was actually a fresh choice at the May 2025 Annual Town Meeting was close to zero. Town Meeting could in principle add new spending from the floor, but adding to a balanced budget requires either cutting another line, drawing on Free Cash or Stabilization, or authorizing a new revenue source, and none of that happened materially in May 2025.

85.7% outside boards / past ballots 10.1% Town Administrator contracts 4.2% other recurring
GIC + insurance $14.67M · 33%

Premiums reset every fiscal year by the state GIC board. The town's choice to use GIC at all, and the 83/17 employer/employee split, were settled in earlier rounds of collective bargaining.

Bond debt service (U.S. Bank) $14.24M · 32%

Each bond series locked in when issued (mostly 2008–2024). Excluded-debt series authorized by ballot vote on the date the project was approved; in-levy series via Town Meeting article.

Pension assessment (PERAC) $5.38M · 12%

PERAC framework dates to 1945. The FY26 dollar amount was set by the 2024 actuarial valuation of the Marblehead Retirement System, no local discretion in any single budget year.

State assessments (Cherry Sheet) $3.35M · 8%

Recalculated each fall by state DLS via long-standing formulas (MBTA assessment, charter school tuition, state retirement, etc.). Town Meeting cannot alter the amount, only acknowledge it.

Town Administrator multi-year contracts $4.43M · 10%

Trash hauling (Republic Services $895K, Waste Management $546K), Munis SaaS via Tyler Technologies ($204K), Future Technologies IT ($226K), Altus Dental ($396K), Voya deferred-comp admin ($312K), outside legal Mead Talerman & Costa ($166K), outside audit CliftonLarsonAllen ($116K), and others. Signed in prior years by the Town Administrator with Select Board approval; Town Meeting did not choose these line by line.

Other recurring (refunds, commodities, transfers) $1.85M · 4%

Real-estate tax refunds owed back to overpaying property owners ($268K), interfund transfers where the town pays itself ($229K), commodity purchases like fuel and road salt within existing appropriations ($386K), and small professional services. None of this is a discretionary year-to-year choice either, structurally speaking.

Ledger excludes payroll. The actual fresh annual decision at Town Meeting is the departmental appropriation level (which mostly drives staffing and salaries, paid through payroll), not these vendor checks.
What's in this bucket (3 funds)
  • General Fund – Town 2025 Annual Town Meeting omnibus budget article. Operating budget for every General Fund Town department (DPW, Fire, Police, Library, Council on Aging, Town Clerk, Finance, etc.). $43.91M
  • General Fund – School 2025 Annual Town Meeting school appropriation. Year-to-year MPS vendor spend (teacher salaries paid via payroll, not in ledger). $8.07M
  • General Fund – Tax Articles In-levy capital articles voted at Town Meeting (no debt exclusion). Each article carries its own Annual Town Meeting vote. $2.31M

Paid by ratepayers, not your tax bill

$31.25M31.3% of FY26 spend

Who chose this: the Municipal Light Board, Water & Sewer Commission, and Harbors & Waters Board set rates and budgets for the self-funded utility enterprises. Town Meeting accepts the rate schedules but residents pay through utility bills, not the property-tax levy.

When setContinuous, by appointed boards. Each enterprise's rates are reset on its own board's schedule (typically annual). Wholesale power supply contracts (Berkshire Wind, etc.) are signed for multi-year terms. Capital articles get a Town Meeting vote when they come up but are repaid from rates, not the levy.
What's in this bucket (top 8 funds)
  • Electric EnterpriseMunicipal Light Board operating budget. Largest vendor: Berkshire Wind Power wholesale.$19.50M
  • Water Enterprise OperatingWater & Sewer Commission operating budget.$4.44M
  • Sewer Enterprise OperatingWater & Sewer Commission operating budget.$3.88M
  • Water Capital ArticlesTown Meeting authorized water capital projects, repaid via water rates.$1.01M
  • MWRA Project LWSAP26-3021MWRA Local Water System Assistance Program funding.$0.73M
  • Harbor Capital ArticlesTown Meeting authorized harbor capital, repaid via mooring/waterways fees.$0.61M
  • Harbor Enterprise OperatingHarbors & Waters Board operating budget.$0.48M
  • Sewer Capital ArticlesTown Meeting authorized sewer capital, repaid via sewer rates.$0.36M

State & federal restricted grants

$5.15M5.2% of FY26 spend

Who chose this: outside government. The state or federal program defines the use; Marblehead's School Committee or Select Board accepts the funds. Cannot be redirected to general operations.

When setBy state/federal calendar. Circuit Breaker and IDEA recur annually by formula. ARPA was a one-time 2021 federal allocation now sunsetting. School Lunch reimburses against meals actually served. Marblehead doesn't decide the size; it accepts and spends per the program rules.
What's in this bucket (top 4 funds)
  • Circuit BreakerMA DESE SpEd reimbursement formula. Restricted to SpEd costs.$1.77M
  • COVID-19 ARPA (Federal)American Rescue Plan Act allocation, March 2021. Sunsetting.$1.19M
  • School LunchUSDA National School Lunch Program reimbursement.$0.87M
  • SPED IDEA Part B (entitlement)Federal IDEA Part B entitlement, restricted to disability supports.$0.70M

Revolving funds: recreation programs, commercial trash, similar fee-funded services

$1.28M1.3% of FY26 spend

Who chose this: Town Meeting authorizes each revolving fund under MGL c.44 §53E½. The dollars come from program fees, not tax revenue, and can only be spent on that program.

When setRe-authorized at each Annual Town Meeting. Each revolving fund's spending cap and purpose has to be renewed annually by vote. The actual cash comes in as participating businesses or recreation users pay fees.
What's in this bucket (top 2 funds)
  • Commercial Waste Collection RevolvingTown Meeting authorized; fees from participating businesses.$0.69M
  • Park Revolving FundTown Meeting authorized; recreation program fees.$0.48M

Trusts, donations, and small fundraising funds

$1.24M1.2% of FY26 spend

Who chose this: original donors, donor families, and people contributing to specific causes (Larz Anderson Fund, Shattuck Memorial Fund, Pickett Charity, Glover/Village student activities, fireworks, youth baseball, opioid settlement, etc.). Each fund has its own donor-restricted purpose.

When setAt the time of each original gift, the older charitable trusts (Larz Anderson, Pickett) date from the 19th and early 20th century and are donor-restricted in perpetuity. Activity funds and donation accounts get topped up continuously by current contributors.

What moved since the last snapshot (Jun 2 → Jun 9)

+$3.22M in new payments across 1,181 new ledger rows. 837 prior rows were edited or reversed (normal end-of-month reconciliation). The motion concentrated in fewer than 10 vendors. Sources: Jun 9 snapshot vs. the Jun 2 snapshot (both in commit history; superseded in data/ by the year-end file).

  • Berkshire Wind Power CooperativeLight Dept wholesale, ratepayer not tax+$1.05M
  • Boston Higashi Schoolout-of-district SpEd tuition placement+$0.15M
  • Melmark New Englandout-of-district SpEd tuition placement+$0.10M
  • Pro AV Systems, Tyler Equipment, TDS, otherscapital + IT+$0.20M
Every payment (the raw ledger)

The full ledger of 15,364 rows, filterable by vendor, fund, division, and date. Useful for looking up a specific vendor or check.

What we can't fully account for

Of the $99.93M paid through Jun 9, $97.71M (97.8%) sits in a top-20 fund that maps to a named authorizing vote. The remaining 2.2% is bucketed but with caveats.

Long-tail funds not yet mapped to a vote

$2.22M2.2% of ledger · 88 funds

Each tail fund is classified into a bucket by regex (METCO and Chapter 90 → state grants; Larz Anderson and Shattuck → trusts; etc.) but doesn't have a per-fund vote citation in the provenance JSON yet. Largest unmapped funds: METCO ($276K), A36 2019 MWRA Loan ($240K), High School Student Activity ($178K), Larz Anderson Fund ($154K), Chapter 90 + Fair Share ($169K combined).

Fix: extend checkbook_fund_provenance.json to all 108 funds (or at least the top ~50, which would cover ~99.5%).

Bond debt service we can't split bond-by-bond

$14.24MU.S. Bank, 36 rows

Annual bond payments cross many series, Abbot Library 2021, Fort Sewall 2019, Gerry School 2016, Pleasant St 2012, and others. Some traces to ballot-approved debt exclusions; some to in-levy Town Meeting capital articles. The ledger description column carries invoice numbers like "3189884", not bond series.

Fix: pull the town's bond schedule (in the ACFR notes or from the Town Accountant) and join on payment date + amount.

Negative rows that look like prior-year reconciliations

$-2.56M153 rows total

Six big negatives on Jul 25, 2025 to Commonwealth of MA (-$945K, -$291K, -$212K, -$53K, -$23K, -$17K, all carrying the same invoice ID 666-0168-2025-0709MB) sum to -$1.54M, almost certainly a year-end insurance / GIC credit reconciling FY25 charges into FY26 books. Plus -$382K SESD and -$320K MWRA negatives the same week. The other 145 negative rows are small voids and reissues.

Fix: footnote tied to the Town Accountant's year-end close-out memo. Not a data-quality problem, it's how municipal accounting handles prior-year credits.

“ONE TIME PAY” placeholder vendor

$1.16M676 rows

Munis' catch-all for one-off payments where the recipient isn't in the vendor master. The single biggest row is $733K to "ONE TIME PAY" with description "Contract 190 Water Main Improv", that's the actual water-main contractor, just not yet in the vendor file. The rest is a mix of real-estate tax refunds, tuition reimbursements, and small misc disbursements.

Fix: at minimum, surface the description column as the de-facto vendor for ONE TIME PAY rows so they're searchable and not just anonymous.

Interfund transfers (the town paying itself)

$1.37M"Town of Marblehead" as vendor, 863 rows

When money moves between funds (GF-School → HS Student Activity, or Town → Enterprise for shared services), the ledger records both sides as outflows. These rows are not external spend; they're internal economic shuffles. Naively summed in the buckets, they create modest double-counting (roughly 1.4% of the total).

Fix: tag interfund-transfer rows and exclude from "external spend" totals; show them in a separate "internal movement" line.

PII-redacted descriptions

313 rowsamounts & vendor preserved

The redaction script masks descriptions on out-of-district SpEd placements (student initials in the original ledger) and any rows in the two medical-claim funds (111F Injury Leave, Workers Compensation). For these rows we know the vendor and the dollars but intentionally don't show what for.

Won't change, this is the privacy gate. Disclosed in the existing redaction note.

Bottom line: the $99.93M total is fully present in the ledger and bucketed; what's incomplete is the per-fund vote citations on the 2.2% long tail, the per-bond split on the $14.24M debt service, and the cosmetic mislabeling of ~$2.5M of interfund transfers and ONE-TIME-PAY catch-all rows. No dollars are missing from the published checkbook; the gaps are about how cleanly each dollar traces back to the vote that authorized it.

About this sketch

All bucket totals are real, computed from a June 9, 2026 export of the FY26 checkbook ledger. The year-end ledger (data/checkbook_FY26_2026-06-30.csv) and its rollup (data/checkbook_view_FY26.json) carry the final three weeks of FY26 payments; the figures on this page have not been restated against them. Fund-to-vote provenance is in data/checkbook_fund_provenance.json (top 20 funds, 97.8% of paid spend). Vote citations cross-reference data/dor_debt_exclusion_all.csv (MA DOR Proposition 2½ Debt Exclusion Votes) for the ballot bucket.

Only 14.3% of vendor checks out of General Fund – Town are subject to year-to-year Town Meeting discretion. The other 85.7% (GIC + pension + bond debt + state assessments) is set by outside boards or prior contracts. Payroll, the largest discretionary line, is paid via a separate system and isn't in the ledger.