Town Meeting warrant set

The Weston Select Board voted in late March to set the warrant for Annual Town Meeting.

While there are still aspects to finalize, no more questions or measures can be added. There are 25 articles on the warrant this year, including the annual operating budget and design funds for a new fire station.

The proposed operating budget for the next fiscal year comes out to around $106.7 million, an increase of 4.4% from the current budget. Post-employment benefits, debt and other items bring the total to just over $124 million. The number is slightly lower from earlier estimates made by Town Manager Leon Gaumond, due to a revised school budget and lower than expected health insurance and pension costs.

Gaumond said there were several unknowns at this stage, including union negotiations, finalized state aid and changing utility costs.

“When I prepared the original budget, we didn’t have gas prices at nearly $4 a gallon,” he said. “There are several unions still in negotiations … these costs have to be factored in at some point, and hopefully the current budget that we have proposed here will be sufficient enough to fund those cost increases.”

The majority of the budget goes toward the schools, making up over 41% of the budget. Other items around town include $97,850 for a new patrol position in the police department to help offset overtime costs.

In addition to approving the annual budget, residents will also be asked to put just over $3 million toward design plans for a new fire station and renovations to the Boston Post Road facility. If approved, the allocation will likely come from free cash — funds left over from previous projects or fiscal years – and available funds.

Voters may also be asked to approve the creation of a $1 million capital stabilization fund reserved for larger capital projects, such as the fire station. The seed money, according to Gaumond, may come from raising the cash or using available funds. A decision has yet to be made. Use of the fund would have to be approved by a two-thirds vote at a future Town Meeting.

Gaumond said the fund would lessen the impact of expensive projects down the road.

“I proposed to the Finance Committee … to help soften the impact of future major capital projects,” he said. “This can be there to help offset some of the heavy increases in debt that we might see with a project like [new school buildings] coming on board.”

Select Board member Tom Palmer said the fund would prevent high increases in tax rates.

“It would be nice to smooth out the taxes, recognizing that you’re asking residents, maybe a resident who may be planning to move out of town, to contribute at the margin a little bit of money to something that they’re not going to see a benefit of until it’s built,” he said. “On the flip side, it’s just prudent financial planning so that we’re not having these huge spikes in the tax base which makes the hurdle to getting those capital projects that much more.”

Fellow Select Board member John McDonald was against the idea. He said he did not want a disguised financial burden to influence voters’ decisions on major projects.

“There should be a high hurdle whenever we’re doing a major project. It disguises it somewhat if you make people pay for it five or years more in advance,” he said.

Select Board Chair Lise Revers said that the fund would be unlikely to receive support from the Select Board.

Finance Committee Chair Bharath Venkataraman said he would be in favor of presenting the article. At the Finance Committee’s March 27 meeting, the committee supported the capital stabilization fund article.

If approved, $1 million will be transferred into the new fund. In addition, $3 million will come off of future debt payments. According to Gaumond, the Select Board and Finance Committee will continue to discuss the article.

Several capital projects are on the warrant, including nearly $1.3 million for a new fire engine as well as $65,300 for the creation of eight parking spaces on Indian Hill Road near Cat Rock/80 Acres.

Residents will also decide on six projects seeking funding through Community Preservation Act money, including a feasibility study for a dog park, and lighting for the field hockey field.

The lone citizen’s petition comes from Heirloom owners Nadia Liu Spellman and Kyle Spellman. They are seeking a liquor license for the cafe, which will require Weston to petition the Legislature to grant an additional license to the town.

Annual Town Meeting is set for Monday, May 4.