Finance Panel Raises Golf Assistant Pay to $1,000
Finance Committee · Meeting of September 15, 2026
Gardner Finance Committee hears deficit warning, raises golf assistant stipend. Mayor Michael J. Nicholson told the panel the city closed fiscal year 2026 with a small deficit and warned that health insurance and special education transportation costs are outpacing revenue as roughly half of Massachusetts communities sought overrides this year.
Councillor Judy A. Mack said mutual aid "shouldn't be the help for communities" and pressed for a project-manager requirement on capital projects after cost overruns on the high school C-wing and auditorium. The committee voted 2-0-1, with Chair Aleksander H.
Dernalowicz abstaining as a Golf Commission member, to set the new Golf Course Administrative Assistant stipend at $1,000 a month, up from an $800 proposal, after Mack found the position had been informally paid $47.14 an hour without a Golf Commission vote. Members also closed out a facilities-staffing review after a new AFSCME agreement and advanced a rate-and-fee review ordinance unanimously.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,380 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of September 15, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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