Finance Panel Splits On Cruiser, Rejects Tractor
West Boylston's Finance Committee deadlocked on a new police cruiser and rejected a $72,000 tractor purchase. Town Administrator Carter presented a $32,824,569 draft budget, warning the town's reliance on free cash to cover recurring deficits is "a ticking bomb within your operating budget."
Finance Committee · Meeting of April 9, 2026
West Boylston's Finance Committee deadlocked on a new police cruiser and rejected a $72,000 tractor purchase. Town Administrator Carter presented a $32,824,569 draft budget, warning the town's reliance on free cash to cover recurring deficits is "a ticking bomb within your operating budget." The budget assumes a 15 percent sewer rate increase effective January 1 and a new $50,000 annual landfill testing cost. Members split 3-3, with one abstention, on endorsing a $74,545 cruiser purchase from the police operating budget, and voted 1-5 in the Finance Committee and 2-4 on the Capital Investment Board against a $72,000 tractor.
The panel unanimously endorsed $20,000 in fire department thermal imaging cameras, $150,000 for high school grounds work and a $180,000 DPW dump truck, and voted against attending an April 15 joint meeting with the Select Board.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,084 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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