Weston Finance Committee Hears FY24 IT and DPW Budget Presentations, Takes No Votes

WESTON — February 9, 2023 — Weston Finance Committee reviews FY24 IT and DPW budgets with no votes taken. Finance Committee Chair Bharath Venkataraman presided over a two-hour session February 9 in which IT Director Tracy Sullivan flagged inflation-driven software increases across nearly all vendors, including a previously unpaid $7,600 annual support cost for dispatch touchscreens and a projected $300,000 town-school network replacement needed by 2025. School IT director Lee McCann presented the final phase of a multi-year capital IT plan covering a cloud phone system, school PA upgrades, and security cameras. DPW Director Tom Cullen reported the operating budget rising roughly $97,000 to approximately $4.15 million and said road segments rated below a PCI of 70 have fallen from about 100 in 2015 to about 52 today, with full reconstruction expected by fiscal year 2027 to 2029, after which annual road funding could drop from $1.8 million to roughly $1.2 million. Cullen also warned that the town's below-market solid waste disposal contract expires in December 2027 and will renew at substantially higher tipping fees.