By Wayland Post staff
Wayland could avoid a new operating override for fiscal 2028, but the townwide property-tax levy would rise 5.86% and leave only about $21,000 in unused taxing capacity.
The November financial review outlines a narrow route through the next budget year as officials weigh spending pressures against residents’ tax bills. The scenario allows the general fund budget to grow 5.5%, to about $119.1 million. Those figures are projections, rather than an adopted budget or a decision to place an override question before voters.
The distinction matters as the discussion shifts from whether an override is needed to how much taxes would rise without one, and what spending adjustments would accompany a smaller increase.
At the Finance Committee’s Oct. 26 meeting, Finance Director Brian Keveny said he did not believe an override was needed for fiscal 2028. He framed the next question as what budget and tax increase officials would bring to Town Meeting. Town Manager Michael McCall said the smaller remaining gap might be managed through changes that would allow the town to get through the year without an override.
McCall has described an effort to contain operating costs alongside Keveny’s financial forecasting.
At the Oct. 26 meeting, he said he had required departments to speak with him before making new hires and had left some positions unfilled to save money. He also reported consolidating roles, changing purchase-order processing to reduce paper use and free staff time, and expanding online permitting.
On Oct. 5, McCall told the Select Board he was working with the acting police chief on internal staffing changes and had made similar changes in Town Hall. The town was using a procurement consultant, and he was exploring whether sharing a procurement specialist with another community could provide experienced help at a lower cost.
McCall also said he had reached agreements with several labor unions while trying to contain salary growth. He and Keveny had worked through the summer with a budget working group and coordinated regularly with school administrators.
There is an earlier example of that operational budget management. On June 29, McCall said departments had deferred expenses and delayed filling vacancies until July 1 to help cover fiscal 2026 year-end needs. Officials approved $681,221 in transfers, including $620,000 for snow and ice.
That amount documents funds redirected to cover the earlier year’s expenses. It does not establish an equivalent amount of recurring savings or a reduction in the fiscal 2028 gap. McCall cautioned that the extraordinary effort could not be repeated every year.
He also reported a completed purchasing decision on Sept. 22: Acting under Select Board authorization and its consultant’s advice, the town bought a one-year electricity contract after a market dip. Energy costs were still rising, but the town avoided committing to a two- or three-year contract at that point.
No override and tax effects
Avoiding an override would not hold the levy increase to 2.5%.
Proposition 2½ limits the town’s overall taxing capacity, and a community can use capacity it did not tap in the previous year. The November presentation estimates roughly $2.8 million in unused capacity for fiscal 2027.
Its fiscal 2028 calculation adds the annual 2.5% increase and $650,000 in new growth, then includes debt exclusions, to reach a maximum levy of about $100.53 million. No new operating override appears in that calculation.
That maximum is about 5.89% above the $94.94 million levy projected for fiscal 2027. The presentation’s 5.86% scenario comes in slightly below it.
Both percentages describe the total townwide levy. They do not predict an identical increase in every property’s tax bill, which also depends on assessments and how the tax burden is distributed.
Much of the spending pressure comes from expenses grouped outside individual town and school departmental budgets. The November presentation projects those unclassified costs rising approximately $3.08 million, or 10.16%, to $33.43 million.
Employee health insurance accounts for about $1.37 million of that increase, with debt and interest adding approximately $1.04 million. Energy costs are projected to rise about $277,000.
Those unclassified expenses would absorb about half the $6.22 million increase in available revenue. In the separate detailed spending forecast, the school budget rises 4.21%, to about $60.01 million, while town departmental spending rises 3.22%, to about $25.84 million.
Officials favor further scrutiny
The Finance Committee had already expressed a preference for avoiding an override in the coming year.
On Sept. 8, it voted 6-0 to authorize Chairman Carl Barnes to convey its preference for receiving a fiscal 2028 operating budget without an override. Brian O’Herlihy made the motion, and Iris Hoxha seconded it. Barnes, Hoxha, William Huss, O’Herlihy, Rob Quimby, and Satish Raj voted yes. Krishna Konda was absent.
The vote left the possibility of an override open. It also sought more focused financial analysis before pursuing a three-year override for fiscal 2029 through 2031, potentially through a committee examining savings, efficiencies and the structural deficit, with recommendations by June 30, 2027.
If an override question for fiscal 2028, potentially including fiscal 2029 and 2030, were to go forward, the committee wanted it on the May 2027 annual election ballot.
Earlier Select Board discussions showed differing concerns rather than a formal decision on an override. Doug Levine favored deferring a request if the gap fell to several hundred thousand dollars. William Whitney sought specific examples of the programs or positions that would be affected by cuts. Christopher Reynolds wanted clearer financial explanations and firmer assumptions.
Chair Carol Martin emphasized time for public explanation and discussion of a minimum financial threshold for seeking an override. Vice Chair Thomas Fay supported hearing residents’ views through a public forum.
The board discussed the Finance Committee’s request and agreed that the proposed review committee warranted further discussion at a later meeting. The financial presentation offers a possible route through fiscal 2028, but it does not resolve the pressures facing later budgets.
