Above: Over 4 hours after calling the Town’s Annual Meeting of voters to order, and the Moderator called the completed session to a close. (image cropped from meeting video)
On Saturday, at a meeting with low turnout and big financial asks, Southborough Town officials had resounding success. Annual Town Meeting (ATM) voters passed every Article put forward by the Town without any amendments. The only Article that didn’t pass was a Citizen’s Petition that officials didn’t support.
Approved requests included borrowing authorization for Trottier Middle School’s roof and the $25M for a 5-year road and sidewalk improvements plan. To move forward, those two projects will still need Annual Town Election voters’ support next month.
(For more details on the upcoming Ballot Question votes, scroll to the bottom.)
Below is my general overview of the Town Meeting actions and impacts. (Stay tuned for at least one more post to cover key discussions and debates in the meeting.)
The Town Clerk’s office doesn’t have the official count to share yet, but it certainly wasn’t a high turnout. (I’m guessing it was in the neighborhood of 200 voters.)1
Annual Town Meeting Decisions
Town Meeting voters considered 32 Articles from the Warrant. (Two others were pulled by sponsors in advance, without any motion or presentation.)
There were multiple approved zoning changes.2
One approved Article will modernize uses that officials hope will attract more commercial development to the areas of town zoned Industrial Park. That zoning rewrite adds updated restrictions on businesses (a.k.a “protections” for abutters). (Stay tuned for coverage of debates about the Article details, including failed motions to amend it.)
Town Meeting voters also expanded the right to add ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) to homes. Homeowners won’t need a special permit to add one up to 1,200 sq ft ADU to their property, as long as it doesn’t exceed the primary building’s living space. (It will also still need to comply with septic capacity, zoning restrictions for setbacks, etc.)
Plus, the Tricentennial Committee will be able to post signs and banners to promote the Town’s 300th anniversary celebration (and recognize sponsors). (That’s a temporary measure this August through January of 2028, and subject to Select Board oversight.)
Non-zoning approvals included authorizing the next step in the process for bringing a Costco to Town. The Town has permission to seek from the state legislature an additional All-Alcohol license that they can issue to Costco.
Of the 32 Articles considered, half were approved through a quick vote on a “Consent List” of Articles recommended by the Moderator. (The original proposed list was longer, but a few were pulled by voters or the moderator.)
Most of the remaining Articles were passed without any voiced opposition or debate. (Stay tuned for my coverage of the ones that sparked debates.)
Financial Impacts
The short term financial impact of Town Meeting’s vote is a projected FY27 tax increase of 4.6%. But voters were told that if enough Town employees select the version of the healthcare plan that the Town urges them to switch to, the increase could be just 3.2%.
Longer term, the Advisory Committee’s report to Town Meeting warned that the Town’s longer term financial situation isn’t pretty going into the following year.
The rough, initial projection for the FY28 budget to be considered at ATM in 2027 is a projected 10.75% tax increase. That would require a Proposition 2½ override.
Those long term projections usually come down as officials work to whittle down expenses. But there are also economic uncertainties that can work against those efforts.
Plus, the Town’s debt is growing at a time when officials and voters still have no idea what will be proposed for a Neary School renovation project through a Special Town Meeting this fall.
Below is the full list of Articles that Town Meeting approved over the weekend:3
1. Acceptance of Monies from Contributors (Annual acceptance of payments from tax-exempt entities)*
2. Borrowing Authorization (Annual Treasurer authorization for short-term borrowing)*
3. Authorize Select Board and Supt. of Schools/Three Year Contracts (Annual authorization to exceed 3-year limit but cap at 7)*
4. Amend the Personnel Salary Administration Plan (Updates to position grades, salary schedule and stipends)
5. Collective Bargaining Agreements (Funding for first year of new Police Lieutenants agreement)*
6. Fiscal Year 2027 Operating Budgets ($71,777,130) — You can view the Town’s overview here, and more info here. (For the full budget breakdown, go to page 23 of the Warrant here.)
7. Fiscal Year 2026 Water Budget ($3,522,752)
8. Annual Appropriation for OPEB Trust Fund ($250K for annual funding of retiree benefits trust fund)*
9. General Government Capital Items (non-borrowing):
- DPW equipment:
- $108,250 – Grounds Service Dump Truck (split into two items for $32,475 & $75,775)
- $262,425 – “35,000 GVW Cab & Chassis”
- $287,500 – Overhead Garage Doors Replacement
- $ 60,250 – Rotary Mobile Column Vehicle Lift System
- $ 13,500 – Tire Changer Machine
- Fire equipment:
- $ 40,000 – Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- $ 75,000 – Fire-Brush Truck
- MIS Equipment:
- $ 25,000 – Phone System Replacement
- Police Equipment:
- $168,382 – 2 Cruisers
- $ 21,500 – Handheld Portables
- $ 30,000 – 2 Light Duty Vehicles
10. Water Capital Items ($200K Transfer from water retained earning for capital items)*
11. MWRA Borrowing for Presidential/Fisher Water Main Improvements ($1,000,000, 0% interest loan)
12. General Government Capital Items (borrowing):
- $810,000 – Finn Classroom Floor Replacement
- $1,400,00 – PreK-8 Security System Upgrades
- $365,000 – PreK-8 Technology Equipment (classroom projection & presentation systems)
13. Roadway and Sidewalk Improvements (borrowing $25M) — For details, see my dedicated post here and the Town’s presentation here
14. Pay & Classification Study for Non-Union Employees ($30K for legally required quadrennial review of Salary Administration Plan)*
15. Borrowing for Replacement of Trottier School Roof ($8.8M authorization for project, but actual borrowing will be $5.4M for Southborough’s share) — For details, see my dedicated post here, the schools’ handout here, and their presentation here.
16. Petition Legislature for All Alcohol License (Allow Town to seek additional All-Alcohol license for COSTCO) *
17. Amend Zoning Bylaw-Industrial Park District — For details, see my dedicated post here, the Planning Board’s handout here, and more documents (including video explanations from a Planning member) here.
18. General Government Capital Items ($137,334 for continuing annual payments on items authorized to be leased through prior Town Meetings) *
19. Payment to Retirees for Accrued Leave Time ($40K for annual funding of retirees’ accrued vacation/sick time)*
20. Facilities Maintenance Fund ($125K in annual funding for maintenance of Town buildings)*
21. Recreation Facility Maintenance Fund ($25K for maintenance of Town recreation facilities)*
22. Revolving Funds (Annual authorization of revolving fund spending limits)*
23. CPA (Community Preservation Act) Funds – Administrative (Annually required allocation of overall funding and payments into funding buckets)*
24. CPA Funds – Adjustments (Annual – to reflect state match deviations from last year’s plan)*
25. CPA Funds – Transfer to Affordable Housing Trust ($61,239 from the CPA’s Community Housing Reserves Fund into the fund for Affordable Housing overseen by the SAHT)
27. Accept Easement for Willow Street (Allow the donated easement needed to proceed with the culvert replacement project)
28. Amend Town Bylaw Accept MGL c.60, s.62A for Tax Payment Agreement (authorizes the Treasurer/Collector to enter into written installment payment agreements with taxpayers seeking to redeem properties in tax title and to waive up to 50% of accrued interest.)*
29. Amend Zoning: Bylaw for Accessory Dwelling Units — For details, read my dedicated post here.
30. Amend Zoning Bylaw – Update SHOPC to Affordable Housing Trust — For details, read my dedicated post here.
31. Amend Zoning Bylaw-MBTA Communities Overlay District — For details, read my dedicated post here.
32. Amend Zoning: Sign Bylaw — For details, read my dedicated post here.
33. Citizen Petition – Creation of Separate Finance Committee — For details, read my dedicated post here</a
During the meeting, Moderator Paul Cimino informed voters that two Articles had been pulled by their sponsors. Those were Articles 26 ( the definition of Dog Kennel in Town bylaws) and Article 34 (a Citizens Petition on a plastic bag ban). He noted that the sponsors of the plastic bag ban may bring back a revised version to a future meeting.
Upcoming Debt Exemption Ballot Questions
As I noted at the beginning of my post, two of the approved Articles still need to go through another approval to move forward. The ballot in the Town election will include questions asking voters to authorize excluding/exempting certain debt payments from the Town’s calculated cap on raising taxes under “Proposition 2½”. If the majority of voters don’t vote yes, the Town will be unable to borrow the funds.
A debt exemption for the Neary roof replacement, approved by Special Town Meeting voters in March, will also be on the ballot. Unlike the ATM Articles, that one doesn’t legally require voters to pass a debt exemption. But Town officials’ plan for funding the roof and other expenses is based on the assumption of a yes vote at the ballot.
The Annual Town Election will be held on May 12th. For more details on that, click here.
- Soon after the meeting opened, Jim Hegarty said that 172 clickers had been issued. That likely went up before the vote on Trottier’s roof. Immediately following that vote, Planning Board member Marnie Hoolahan noted that the audience just got “slimmer”. The clicker count on her subsequent Article only captured 122 votes.
I confess, due to a personal conflict, I wasn’t there to observe voters coming and going. (I believe that it is the first Town Meeting session I’ve been unable to attend since taking over the blog almost 13 years ago.)
- Zoning changes will still need to be vetted by the Attorney General’s office before they go into effect. The AG has the power to reject the bylaws or strike sections believed to to be out of compliance with state laws or the constitution.) If/once approved, the effective date will be backdated to the date passed, April 11, 2026.
- *Articles with an asterisk were on the list of 16 Articles that were approved at the start of the meeting without any discussion through an approved Consent List.
