Boxborough Select Board Approves Level-Services FY26 Budget Guidance

BOXBOROUGH — December 16, 2024 — Boxborough Select Board votes level-services budget guidance for FY26 and advances most Special Town Meeting warrant articles. The board voted unanimously Monday to direct Town Administrator Mike Gatti to hold the fiscal year 2026 town-side budget to no more than a 5 percent increase, consistent with Finance Committee guidance, while authorizing him to pursue minor enhancements — most notably a possible half-time addition in the Department of Public Works, where Gatti said the equivalent of one and a half positions has been absorbed by new duties including solid waste transport and full-time facilities maintenance. A preliminary budget snapshot showed a roughly $83,000 gap once warrant articles are included, with collective bargaining outcomes and a 10 percent projected health insurance increase adding uncertainty. The board voted 5-0 to recommend a Prudent Investor bylaw change under MGL Chapter 203C, 4-1-0 to recommend $100,000 in supplemental OPEB funding, and 4-1-0 to accept an 8.3-acre donated parcel on Taylor Farm Road for roughly $3,700 in tax reimbursement, with member Wes Davis voting no on the land deal, calling the parcel landlocked with no accessible public benefit. Town Planner Alec Wade reported more than 80 percent of the Boxborough 2030 master plan's 125 actions are completed or in progress, and said he will apply for a regional planning grant targeting an economic development plan, which board members called the town's most pressing long-term fiscal need given that only one new home was built in Boxborough in the prior year.