From the category archives:

Budgets and Finance

Countdown to town meeting: Should the town tap into its rainy day funds?

April 7, 2010 12:29:21 PM
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It’s rained quite a bit this year, both literally and figuratively. So it seems only appropriate that one of the big questions at town meeting next week will be whether to tap into the town’s rainy day fund to help offset the tax burden.

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Town boards look for common ground on budgets tonight

April 5, 2010 11:45:07 AM

For the past several months, the Board of Selectmen and the Advisory Committee have been working largely independently to come up with a set of budget recommendations to present to voters at town meeting next week. Tonight they’ll sit down to talk about their recommendations and, where there are differences, attempt to reach common ground.

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Advisory Committee: Town budget would call for 2.9% tax increase but no override

March 17, 2010 09:26:15 AM

The Advisory Committee is one of two groups that recommend a budget for town meeting voters to consider (the other is the Board of Selectmen). Yesterday Advisory Committee member Al Hamilton posted a comment about the state of the budget from his committee’s perspective. Since some of you may have missed it in the comments, I’m reprinting it here.

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Good news (finally!) on school budgets, along with some words of caution

March 11, 2010 11:05:18 AM

There hasn’t been much good news on the budget front this year, but School Superintendent Charles Gobron got to share some last night. Gobron told the school committee that thanks to additional cuts, cooperation from teachers, and some help from Uncle Sam, the school was able to trim their budget by an additional $350K.

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Would raising fees help solve the school budget crisis?

March 2, 2010 10:48:36 AM

We all know there are two ways to balance a budget: cut costs or increase revenues. And while the Advisory Committee last night had their share of suggestions on ways to cut costs in the school budgets, they spent a fair amount of time talking about ways to bring more cash into the districts.

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Southborough share of regional school budget to increase by 5%

February 26, 2010 11:58:12 AM

The regional school committee on Wednesday night approved a budget for the coming fiscal year that is a 0.66% increase over the current year’s budget. But because of growing enrollments, Southborough’s share of the budget will be 5% higher than it was last year.

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A look at Algonquin enrollments – and what it might mean for your taxes

February 24, 2010 11:43:43 AM
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The Regional School Committee meets tonight to vote on the budget for the 2010-2011 school year. It’s a budget that may prove expensive for Southborough.

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Increased Algonquin enrollments may mean increased costs for Southborough

February 16, 2010 12:05:26 PM

When it comes to next year’s fiscal situation, we’ve spent a lot of time on this blog discussing the Southborough school budget. Little attention (so far) has been paid to the regional school budget, but turns out, that one could have just as significant an impact on Southborough taxpayers.

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Selectmen consider police overtime budget, cruiser purchases

February 15, 2010 11:48:58 AM
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The Board of Selectmen scrutinized town budgets last week. Previously I told you how the library and youth commission fared (not particularly well), but they aren’t the only town departments facing cuts.

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School Committee votes to approve budget

February 12, 2010 09:24:21 AM
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The Southborough School Committee last night voted to endorse a 3.63% increase in the school’s operating budget for next year. The budget still needs to be approved by voters at town meeting in April.

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Town considers closing Fayville Hall

February 11, 2010 01:54:49 PM
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At their meeting on Tuesday night, Selectmen briefly discussed closing Fayville Hall as a way to save the town some cash. It’s something the town has considered for some time now.

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Selectwoman asks teachers to ‘give something up’

February 10, 2010 02:28:23 PM

During a meeting in which selectmen were cutting town budgets left and right, Selectwoman Bonnie Phaneuf expressed frustration over the state of the school budget, which currently proposes a 3.63% increase over last year.

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Library, youth services face deep budget cuts

February 10, 2010 09:32:17 AM

Selectmen are pouring over budgets with a fine-toothed comb. Last night it was Southborough Youth and Family Services and the library, among others, that were on the chopping block.

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School officials talk budget with parents, urge attendance at town meeting

February 3, 2010 09:30:34 AM
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“We’re going to lose teachers,” School Committee member Jack Kessler told an assembly of parents last night. “The question is how many.”

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