Somerset Finance Committee Postpones Year-End Transfers, Seeks Town Administrator Answers

SOMERSET — July 8, 2026 — Somerset Finance Committee delays fiscal 2026 year-end transfers over documentation concerns. The Advisory and Finance Committee voted 4-3 at its July 8 meeting to postpone action on ten year-end account transfers totaling roughly $41,060, including $25,480.88 in proposed draws from the town's reserve fund, after members said the one-sentence justifications accompanying each request were insufficient. Newly appointed member George Kelly — a former Berkeley Finance Committee chair who cited Somerset's eroding commercial tax base as his reason for joining the panel — joined Chair Jim Teixeira and member Bob Mullen in demanding that Town Administrator Mark Luccio attend a rescheduled meeting to answer specific questions before any vote. "I feel like we are being asked just to vote," Mullen said. The delay carries risk: members said July 15 is the deadline for the town to close its fiscal 2026 books, and members Paul Conley and Chris Wilcox voted no on postponement, arguing the transfers are routine accounting entries and that a short turnaround will not produce better information.