JOHNSTON — A new administration is headed for Town Hall with bold plans for stabilizing the town’s finances and building its tax base.

And achieving those goals will probably involve some new roles for department heads, according to Mayor-elect Joseph M. Polisena.

“They’re going to have to do more with less,” Polisena said yesterday. “I may have people doing two to three positions.

Deciding who will be staying on — and what they will be doing — will be one of the tasks assigned to Polisena’s 12-person transition team.

Meanwhile, members of the transition team will help assess the policies and procedures of each department, Polisena said.

By the end of the month, they will provide a brief report on what they have found and any recommended changes.

The team’s chairman is Polisena’s campaign chief, Robert Parker, a retired Warwick firefighter and specialist in labor issues. The director of the team is Douglas C. Jeffrey, president of Signature Properties. Both men are longtime residents who are well known in the town’s youth sports organizations.

Other members are: Catherine E. Graziano, of Providence; Joseph M. Monti; Steven Woerner; Paul C. Danesi; Ken Aurecchia; Leo Bernardino, of North Providence; and state Fire Marshal George Farrell.

The team also includes a group of lawyers: Christopher D. Colardo, William J. Conley, Jacqueline Lanni and Stephanie DiMaio-Larivee.

Graziano is a former state senator who chaired the senate’s committee on health, education and welfare. At one point, she was a chief negotiator for a nursing union. She also served on the national policy council for the American Association of Retired Persons.

Monti is an administrator who manages sonar systems at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport.

Polisena has already said that he expects Steven Woerner, Lincoln’s finance director, to takeover Johnston’s finance office in January. Woerner is a certified public accountant who has held finance positions in Cranston, Cumberland and Lincoln. Woerner has also performed auditing in Cranston and Providence. He was a supervising auditor for the state auditor general.

Polisena said he expects Woerner to help him size up the town’s financial difficulties and chart a recovery plan.

At this point, Polisena estimates the deficit at $8 million to $10 million.

He said he believes that Monti can help him examine some of the town’s expenditures. Danesi also appears to be well-equipped for helping with finance issues.

He is an experienced accountant with Archie Campanella Public Accountants. He also provides financial analysis to Miriam Hospital and serves as controller of the Providence Plan Housing Corporation. He is vice president for operations at Bishop Hendricken High School.

Ken Aurecchia is expected to help Polisena look-over the various collective bargaining agreements that the town has entered into with unions.

He is a member of the boards of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Rhode Resource Recovery Corporation. He is business manager of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 51.

Aurecchia also serves on the town’s Zoning Board. Polisena expects Leo Bernardino to help him review policies and procedures in the building office, which has been without its operations director, George Corrente, since his retirement in July. Bernardino is the North Providence building inspector.

Finally, George Farrell, the Rhode Island state fire marshal, has agreed to offer Polisena some guidance on issues at the fire department.

Polisena hopes the four lawyers on the team will help him lay the groundwork for a legal policy that would reduce the amount of money the town is spending on lawyers and litigation in general.

That might mean cutting the town’s losses and settling certain cases instead of fighting on in appellate court. Such settlements could add to the town’s deficit, Polisena said.

“I’m concerned with the pending lawsuits and how it will affect the financial stability of the town,” he said.