Special Town Meeting Scheduled; State of the Town Postponed

Wayland residents will have a chance to reexamine the FY12 budget during a special town meeting on Nov. 17 at .

Tuesday night, the Board of Selectmen officially set the date for the special town meeting .

The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m., in the gymnasium at Wayland Middle School. The warrant for the special town meeting will include at least the two articles submitted as part of the petition to call the meeting as well as an article submitted by the Board of Selectmen proposing residents approve option C of four options, the first being to change nothing, vetted by the Finance Committee.

Members of the FinCom attended the Board of Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday to discuss what the committee, in meetings last week, decided were possible scenarios to reduce the money in the town’s free cash account – equal to 14.9 percent of Wayland’s budget as of July 1 – and perhaps provide some tax relief for residents.

“Over the course of these meetings [last week] we confirmed our goals,” FinCom Chair Cherry Karlson said. The FinCom’s five goals are maintaining level services in town, decreasing free cash levels, smoothing the rate of tax increases, keeping future overrides consistent with those of the past, and providing immediate tax relief.

Under the FY12 budget that residents approved at April Town Meeting, the 2012 tax rate is estimated to be $20.71 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a 7 percent increase from the 2011 rate of $19.35. On documents provided by FinCom Tuesday night, this “baseline” is presented as Scenario A.

Scenario B, which the FinCom agreed is “fiscally responsible,” calls for FY12 revenues to be adjusted to reflect an addition $1 million in receipts. This revenue adjustment would potentially reduce the 2012 tax rate to $20.35 and would not require a special town meeting to enact.

“I would lean actually towards [Scenario B],” Selectmen Joe Nolan said. “I think the most prudent is B because it gives the most tax relief and puts free cash at that 8 percent range.”

Looking out to FY13 and FY14, Scenario B is expected to avoid a tax increase in 2013 and require a 4.4 percent increase in 2014 to maintain the same level of services currently present in town. In this scenario, free cash would equal 8 percent of the town’s budget by July 1, 2014.

Karlson said the committee was in general agreement that Scenario B should be enacted, but that decision would depend on the outcome of the petitioners’ article at the Special Town Meeting and how much money would be applied from free cash to the FY12 budget.

Scenarios C and D would both require a vote at a special town meeting and, of those two, only option C was deemed fiscally responsible by the FinCom.

Both scenarios C and D include adjusting revenues to reflect an additional $1 million in receipts; the difference between the options is in the amount of money pulled from free cash to fund the FY12 budget. Scenario C calls for applying $1 million from free cash to the FY12 budget, while Scenario D applies $3 million from free cash.

Scenario D would allow residents to avoid tax rate increases in 2012 and 2013 but, Karlson said, would require a 12 percent increase in 2014 to maintain the current level of services offered by the town.

“If you drive down free cash too quickly,” Karlson explained, “what it means is significant tax increases in coming years if you assume the same services.”

After hearing the options presented by members of the FinCom, selectmen (excepting Sue Pope who was not in attendance) voted unanimously to submit a warrant article proposing Scenario C.

The Warrant for the Special Town Meeting opens Oct. 12 at 8:30 a.m. and closes Oct. 18 at 4:30 p.m. All petitioners’ articles require 100 signatures to be included in the Warrant. Residents should expect to receive a copy of the warrant around Nov. 3 and a warrant hearing will be held on Monday, Nov. 14.

After reaching conclusions regarding the upcoming Special Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Tom Fay proposed postponing the State of the Town meeting scheduled for Nov. 19 in light of the now scheduled Special Town Meeting.

“Quite frankly, I think town boards and the Finance Committee need to focus on the Special Town Meeting,” Fay said, and other selectmen agreed. The State of the Town meeting has been postponed until a to-be-determined date.

Editor's Note: The original article referenced the Board of Selectmen meeting took place on Monday. It in fact occurred on Tuesday. The article above reflects the change.