Newton Finance Committee Unanimously Approves Treasurer, Two Grants in Single Session

NEWTON — March 9, 2026 — Newton Finance Committee unanimously approves treasurer reappointment and two state grants totaling over $163,000. The committee voted three times without dissent at its March 9 meeting, reappointing City Treasurer Ron Mendez, who described plans to expand e-billing — already reaching 800 of 57,000 excise tax households — and reduce paper check payments through the PayModeX platform. The panel also accepted a $113,956 state electric vehicle incentive grant and $9,290.85 in energy stabilization funds for seven new Level 2 charging stations at three city sites, bringing Newton's ChargePoint network to 24 stations and 48 public ports; Co-Director of Sustainability Sam Nyman said the city recently raised its user rate to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to approach break-even with Eversource costs. A third unanimous vote accepted a $50,000 state Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 2.0 grant to fund a two-year equity-focused climate resilience planning process, with a matching $50,000 seed-project implementation grant anticipated in year two.