Weston FinCom reviews police, DPW budgets; town manager pitches $102 million plan

WESTON -- January 30, 2025, Weston Finance Committee opens FY26 budget review with police, DPW and a 4.7 percent town-wide spending plan. Town Manager Leon Gaumond walked the committee through a roughly $102 million proposed operating budget Thursday night, up from $97.5 million, with revenue growth just under 4 percent and an $11 million unused levy cushion. The Weston Police Department is seeking a $100,000 overtime increase to $700,000, having run deficits in that line since FY22; Gaumond declined to fund a requested tenth patrol officer, saying he wants to "see what our new normal is" with the department now fully staffed. Outgoing DPW Director Tom Cullen, presenting his tenth and final budget, booked a $4 million water-enterprise placeholder to rehabilitate the town's three water tanks if voters again reject replacement on March 12. Member Rebecca Kantar called the rehab option "putting terrible lipstick on a terrible pig." Pension assessments from Middlesex County Retirement are projected to climb roughly 7 percent annually through 2036.