WESTBOROUGH — After more than three hours of deliberation, Annual Town Meeting has passed the operating budget for fiscal 2025.
Residents discussed several items within the budget, including the stormwater enterprise fund, landfill and the schools.
A request to change the Free Cash allocation from $450,000 to $1.2 million to lower the tax rate was defeated, 115-251.
Wilfred Savoy and Rod Shaffert presented the amendment, recommending the increase in the allocation come from deferring several capital items.
While some residents supported the amendment, citing the challenges of living on a fixed income, others said using that much free cash would put the town’s bond rating at risk.
Select Board member Allen Edinberg was against the amendment because it was not only against fiscal policy, but deferring maintenance “comes back to bite us.”
The Historical Commission did receive an increase in its budget, from $5,000 to $10,000. This will allow the commission to open its office at the Forbes for several hours per week.
