Boxborough Finance Committee sets 6 percent school assessment guidance for FY26

BOXBOROUGH -- November 14, 2024, Boxborough Finance Committee reaches consensus on 6 percent school assessment guidance for FY26. The committee, meeting November 14, agreed by sense of the meeting, without a formal vote, that Chair Tony Hay would notify the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District that Boxborough is planning for a 6 percent increase in its district assessment, equivalent to roughly a 2 percent increase in the school's operating budget, a level members said would keep the town just under its estimated maximum allowable levy of approximately $26.9 million with about $800,000 to spare. Town Administrator Mike Guzinski reported that department heads' initial FY26 submissions are coming in at just under 5 percent, excluding union contract negotiations and insurance figures still pending. The committee also heard that a $71,000 Community Preservation Act fund-bucket correction must go to a Special Town Meeting in February 2025 as a condition of the state's approval to set the current tax rate, and that the town's certified free cash figure of approximately $1.74 million is unaffected by a separate $100,000 OPEB journal-entry discrepancy, per a written determination from the state Department of Local Services. The committee cancelled its November 19 meeting and will reconvene December 3.