The Money Trail
Where the $25,000 came from, where it went, and what's exposed going forward.
Last updated
The flow
Federal award #15PBJA22GG00645JAGX
MMARS Doc ID SCEPSSFY26JAG22AYERP
Check #113724 · Warrant 26-12 · $25,000.00
Invoice INV-78153 paid in full
Hardware remains Flock's property per §10.2
Is this taxpayer money?
Yes — both federal and local.
| Year | Who funds it | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 ($25K, paid) |
Local Ayer taxpayers upfront (unrestricted cash 12/18/2025); intended to be reimbursed by federal taxpayers via DOJ→MA→Ayer Byrne JAG flow. | Cash out is documented. Reimbursement back to Town is not documented anywhere in this corpus. |
| Year 2 (auto-renews 10/29/2026) |
No identified funding source. | Grant terminates 8/31/2026. Contract auto-renews unless Town gives 30 days' written notice. Default: Ayer municipal taxpayers absorb $25,000. |
| Years 3–4 ($25K/yr ×2) |
No identified funding source. | Same default exposure. Contract term is 12 + 36 months (Order p.2), so out-year exposure runs through Year 4. Total Year 2–4 exposure: $75,000+. |
Cross-tied to source
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Grant requested | $33,000.00 | Grant Packet p.7 |
| Grant awarded / Std Contract Max Obligation | $25,000.00 | Grant Packet p.18, p.20, p.21, p.22 |
| Flock Order Form Year 1 | $25,000.00 | Order p.2 |
| Flock Annual Recurring (Yr 2+) | $25,000.00 | Order p.4 |
| Invoice INV-78153 | $25,000.00 | Order p.20 |
| Town payment (Check #113724) | $25,000.00 | Order p.21 |
| Discounts on Order Form (add-ons) | $3,000.00 | Order p.4 |
| Discounts on Order Form (prof services) | $5,650.00 | Order p.4 |
Per-unit pricing — consistent with what Flock charges other municipalities
Flock does not publish a price list on its own website — the flocksafety.com/pricing page directs every visitor to "request a custom quote." The per-unit rates on Invoice INV-78153 are nonetheless consistent with what other municipalities have disclosed in their own public-records filings — for example the $2,500/year per-camera rate published by the City of Campbell, CA (under earlier pricing, before Flock's reported 2024 price increase brought the per-camera rate up to roughly $3,000/year, the same rate Ayer was charged). Watertown (MA)'s City Council also publicly disclosed annual Flock cost in the $24,000+ range for a similar deployment. Ayer was not overcharged — but it also did not negotiate a discount; the contract was sized to fit the grant, not the other way around:
| Item | Unit price | Qty | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flock Safety LPR (fka Falcon) | $3,000 | 5 | $15,000 |
| Flock Safety Video Camera PTZ w/ LTE (fka Condor) | $3,000 | 2 | $6,000 |
| Traffic Analytics Package | $500 | 1 | $500 |
| LPR Install | $1,750 | 1 | $1,750 |
| Solar Video Install | $1,750 | 1 | $1,750 |
| Subtotal | $25,000 | ||
Three things to flag
The escape hatches
The Town has two ways out before Year 2:
- 30-day non-renewal notice — Order §7.1 (Order p.13). To stop auto-renewal, notice must be given by ~9/29/2026.
- Non-appropriation termination — Order §11.15 (Order p.19): "Customer shall have the right to terminate this Agreement for non appropriation with thirty (30) days written notice without penalty or other cost."
Neither requires Flock's consent. If Town Meeting doesn't appropriate Year 2 funding, the Town can walk away at no penalty.