Whitman Finance Committee Names Mike Warner as New Chair

WHITMAN -- October 28, 2025, Whitman Finance Committee reorganizes, handing chairmanship to Mike Warner. The five-member panel voted 4-0 at its October 28 meeting to seat Warner as chair after Kathleen Oetkina stepped down from the role, citing workload; Oetkina was then elected vice chair by the same margin with Warner abstaining. The new chair outlined a department budget review schedule running from late November through February 24, with outreach letters to department heads going out by week's end. Members flagged several fiscal concerns heading into the budget season, including a middle school building project expected to require a bond or bond anticipation note in February or March, ambulance receipts that fell short of projections and left no $150,000 for fire and police operating budgets, and an unfunded pension liability projected to rise $400,000 relative to fiscal year 2026. A $225,000 overlay surplus released by the Board of Assessors remains undirected, with free cash not yet certified.