Finance Committee asks Mosher to reframe Weston tax story for master plan

WESTON -- January 18, 2024, Weston Finance Committee debates how to frame town's tax burden ahead of master plan rollout. Member Jonathan Mosher previewed two presentations to the new Unified Master Planning Committee, Weston's first comprehensive master plan effort since 1965, backed by a $100,000 consultant appropriation, and drew extended pushback on a slide reporting the town's $18,920 median and $23,983 average single-family tax bills, both highest in the state and roughly triple the $7,059 statewide average. Chair Lisa Reitano and member Karen Saltus pressed Mosher to add tax rate per thousand and average property values; member Rebecca Mintz warned the framing risked "tainting the imagination" of planning-committee colleagues. Member Bharath Krishnamachari countered, "I don't pay a tax rate. I pay tax bills in dollars." Mosher's deck also projects debt service rising from $12 million in FY24 to nearly $25 million in FY30 under $28 million water-tank, $54 million fire-station and $100 million school capital assumptions.