NO OVERRIDE THIS YEAR!
Town Manager Chris Las Announces No Property Tax Increase in FY26
Town Manager Chris Las gave Westford taxpayers a pleasant Christmas gift at the last Select Board meeting (12/10), when she announced there would be no proposition 2 ½ override attempted this year. Presenting her FY26 budget recommendations, Las said that it was apparent that there was “no appetite” for a tax hike. However, she warned, that there was still a structural deficit and that “ costs are increasing faster than revenue. ”
Las reported that local revenues actually increased by 4.7M with 3.7M realized from new property tax growth. Combined local revenues, which include excise, meals and hotel taxes have also steadily increased since 2017 along with the property tax increases. State aid remains stagnant.
Despite what should have been an optimistic budget picture, Las reported that one time funds and increased efficiencies were needed to balance this year’s 129M budget, in order to avoid coming back with another override request. The FY26 budget increased by 4.0% over last year.
So what are the budget drivers ? Las pointed to labor costs, energy costs and service contract funding. She announced that the town will enter into budget negotiations with six collective bargaining units this year. Consequently, she has apportioned 700K in the compensation reserve account to meet the contingencies, which these negotiations may present. She also noted that legal expenses have increased by 10K, the assessment from Nashoba Valley Tech HS has also increased by 21% because 14 Westford students are now attending vocational school. She also noted the Planning Board is tapping the town for 5K related to a study in support of MBTA zoning, a project that she has high hopes for, with regard to realizing new revenue.
Las reported that she was able to cobble together a no-override budget by; utilizing one time funds (ARPA), realizing 1.06M in efficiency gains due to internal consolidations and energy conservation, underinvesting in OPEB (retirement benefits) and staff reductions (51.6 FTE were cut). Last year’s failed override was responsible for adding 21.4FTE staff reductions to 30.2 that had already been planned.
While the town manager’s presentation was straightforward, it was Select Board Member Tom Clay who took a more ominous tone warning that the sustainability of this year’s budget formula was tentative. He said that it relied upon; ARPA funds which are diminishing, underfunding OPED which is a bad practice, efficiency gains which appear to have maxed out, and limited savings from a restructuring of the School Department’s reserve accounts.
Las announced that the Finance Committee would begin a review of the town budget on January 9, and extending all through that month. The 2025 town meeting is scheduled for March 22,2025, at 9AM at Westford Academy.
FINCOM PLAYED KEY ROLE IN HALTING THE LAST FY25 OVERRIDE
The Issue of School Department Reserve Accounts Played ADecisive Factor
School Superintendent Christopher Chu paid the Westford FINCOM an offhanded and possibly an unwitting comment, when he said that the confusion over the School Department’s reserve accounts last spring was the greatest single factor in halting an attempted 4.8M override. Chu’s remarks came during his December 9th FY 26 budget presentation to the Westford School Committee.
It was former Finance Committee member Heather Fitzpatrick who initially raised the issue during last year’s FINCOM budget hearings. The amount of money she identified which was held in reserve and not applied to school costs, undercut the argument that more tax revenue needed to be raised, letting the air out of the override movement.
Subsequently, the School Committee wasted no time in correcting matters. They have developed a detailed “Non General Fund Guidebook” in which the reserve amounts are listed. As a result of the review and reordering, the School Department realized an additional 400K in revenue, a small windfall. When combined with an overly generous circuit breaker reimbursement for last year, another 806K in non-tax revenue was added to the School coffers. However, Superintendent Chu was also quick to point out that the benefits of this process may be short lived, extending no more than 3 to 4 years, when these funds will be drawn down.
Despite the demonstrated utility of FINCOM review, there are plans to end public FINCOM meetings, transitioning them exclusively to virtual mode. The decision as to whether to curtail public meetings will be the subject of the FINCOM’s first meeting on January 9th. Except for the pandemic, Westford’s tradition has always supported open, public budget hearings, where resident taxpayers can attend, ask questionsand express concerns.
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