Sudbury Finance Committee elects Joachim and Ferrari as co-chairs in 9-0 vote

SUDBURY — June 10, 2024 — Sudbury Finance Committee reorganizes under two Mikes as Poch steps aside. The committee voted 9-0 on June 10 to elect Michael Joachim to a third year as co-chair and Michael Ferrari to his first, with outgoing co-chair Eric Poch making the nominating motion after six years in leadership. Joachim walked three new members — Andrew Sousa, John Baranowsky and Karl Fries — through Sudbury's roughly $121 million FY25 operating budget and Proposition 2½ mechanics, noting property taxes supply about 90 percent of town revenue. Member Henry Sorett pushed for a formal study of outsourcing the town ambulance service, which he said loses roughly $500,000 a year before counting $400,000-to-$500,000 replacement vehicles, and for a review of the Sudbury Supervisory Association bargaining unit. Member Ryan Lynch said the committee makes "decisions in a vacuum that are not necessarily part of a larger strategic vision" and called for joint goal-setting with the Select Board. Poch flagged a roughly $75 million capital backlog and urged the committee to stop spending all of its free cash. The committee meets next July 22.