Boxborough Finance Committee votes twelve FY27 budget lines totaling $2.66 million

BOXBOROUGH — February 17, 2026 — Boxborough Finance Committee votes twelve FY27 budget lines and flags fire fleet repair crisis. The committee approved ten public works, debt, and human services line items totaling roughly $2.66 million on 5-0 votes Tuesday, while holding police, fire, and school budgets pending the return of absent member John Greven. Fire Chief John Kivlan told the committee that deferred vehicle maintenance has produced an estimated $74,000 to $75,000 repair backlog across the town's apparatus — including a $14,000 pump failure on Engine 64, a $7,000 tire replacement on the tanker, and a $17,000 brush truck repair — against a vehicle maintenance line with only $9,619 remaining in FY26. The committee directed Kivlan to return with a written remediation plan and a specific reserve fund transfer request, noting the reserve fund holds $163,462. The committee also voted 4-1 to recommend the standard $10,000 conservation trust fund CPC article, with Joe Stulpin dissenting on process grounds while signaling he would support a separate open space and recreation plan warrant article at town meeting.