Boxborough Finance Committee Approves Reserve Transfer, Warns on School Budget Baseline Risk

BOXBOROUGH — July 9, 2024 — Boxborough Finance Committee warns a $1.7 million school budget amendment could lock the town into roughly $300,000 in extra costs when fiscal year 2026 budgeting begins. The committee voted unanimously to approve a $27,589 reserve fund transfer for legal expenses and a settlement, then spent the bulk of the July 9 meeting scrutinizing a unilateral amendment by the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee that raises the district's FY25 operating budget from approximately $114 million to $116 million, funded from the district's Excess and Deficiency Fund and bond premium revenue with no change to this year's town assessment. Finance Committee Chair Tony Schanzenbach said the danger is that the inflated figure becomes the baseline under the regional agreement's assessment formula: "We have to come up with $300,000 just to get to zero." The committee directed Schanzenbach to send a letter demanding the district disclose its FY24 turnback amount, explain why those funds were not used to offset the $1.5 million health insurance trust shortfall and $150,000 consulting payment that drove the increase, and confirm current reserve balances. The committee also alerted members that three unexpected Boxborough freshmen may enroll at Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School, a move the town had not budgeted for and that could add up to $90,000 in unbudgeted tuition to the FY25 spending plan.