Weston boards open FY22 budget talks bracing for state aid cuts

WESTON — December 7, 2020 — Weston braces for a $6 million FY22 spending increase as boards open joint budget cycle. The Dec. 7 financial summit drew the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee together with warnings from Town Manager Leon Gaumond Jr. that state aid could fall up to 25 percent. Finance Committee Chair Lisa Reitano said modeling by member John Sallay projects a 7.9 percent tax rate increase — nearly $1,500 on the median bill — if the schools' COVID-era "Budget A1" prevails, or 6.1 percent in the non-COVID scenario. School Committee member Alex Cobb said the schools' preliminary increase is 2.8 percent absent pandemic costs, against a current $42.9 million budget. Select Board member Harvey Boshart cited $5 million in free cash and a $2 million stabilization fund as buffers, while Reitano pressed for confidential 5 percent cut lists from each department: "This is how you get to have the highest tax bill."