Lt. Governor Karyn Polito Visits Acushnet
On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito visited with the Acushnet Board of Selectmen to sign Acushnet's Community Compact agreement with the Baker-Polito Administration. The Community Contract is a voluntary agreement between individual Towns and the Commonwealth. Each Community Compact is unique and tailored to best practices that Community selects.Under the Community Compact, the Commonwealth will offer technical assistance, extra incentive points on grants, and additional grant programs offered only to designated Community Compact Towns.
The Town of Acushnet applied for a Community Compact with the following best practices: Wage & Classification; Employee Policies, and Information Technologies. With this Community Compact, the Town of Acushnet hopes to explore an array grant opportunities.
- Intends to be a reliable partner on local aid.
- Pledges to work with our partners in the Legislature toward earlier local aid formula funding levels.
- Will work to make available technical assistance opportunities for cities and towns as they work toward best practices.
- Will not propose any new unfunded state mandates, and we will look at existing mandates with a goal toward making it easier to manage municipal governments.
- Will give special attention, in its review of state regulations, to those that affect the ability of municipalities to govern themselves.
- Pledges to work closely with municipal leaders to expand opportunities to add municipal voices to those state boards and commissions that impact local governments.
- Will introduce incentives for municipalities that sign Compacts in existing and proposed state grant opportunities, including proposals for technical assistance grants available only to compact communities.
- Will identify ways to expedite state reviews that can often slow down economic development opportunities or hinder other municipal interests.
- Develop a municipal IT consolidation strategy that maximizes technology investments across schools, public safety, and municipal buildings.
- Develop a formal Wage and Classification Plan that details, at a minimum, job descriptions, employee grades, and salary ranges, thereby providing the municipality with a tool to make pay decisions that are reasonable in comparison to similar work being carried out in all areas of city/town government.
- Prepare a Capital Improvement Plan that reflects a community's needs, is reviewed and updated annually, and fits within a financing plan that reflects the community's ability to pay.