Tewksbury Town Meeting Preview: Night One, Budget

TEWKSBURY, MA — Tewksbury's town meeting attendees will vote Monday on the town's budget for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1.

The first night of town meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Tewksbury Memorial High School. Night one is mostly concerned with the town's Fiscal Year 2022 budget, although there are a small handful of non-budgetary articles.

Residents will return to the high school Wednesday night for zoning articles and the special town meeting warrant. The full schedule, the warrants, supplementary information and coronavirus-mitigation plans are available here.

Article one of the warrant is the town election and article two approves the unchanged salaries of elected officials.

Article three is the annual consent calendar, which covers the annual report, the town manager's authorization to enter lease and purchase agreements, the town's authorization to spend Chapter 90 state funds for road and sidewalk work and reauthorization of the town's self-sustaining revolving funds. Voters can remove the consent articles from the consent calendar, returning them to regular order, if they choose.

Article four would approve the town's Fiscal Year 2022 general fund budget. The town manager recommended a $122.85 million budget, up $2.25 million or 1.86 percent over Fiscal Year 2021.

Articles five to eight appropriate funds for collective bargaining agreements with town employees.

Articles nine to twelve fund the town's enterprise funds.

Article 13 spends $1.4 million from the Stabilization Fund on Public Works, Fire and Facilities purchases.

Articles 14 and 15 spend $2.03 million in sewer and water retained earnings for on the Department of Public Works capital improvement plan.

Article 16 borrows $1.5 million to install and replace waterlines, for the "second phase of the upgrade of the town's water distribution system in South Tewksbury."

Article 17 transfers $49,636.76 from bond premiums to reduce the town's exempt debt principal.

Article 18 continues the "Seniors and Veterans' Tax Relief Work Program," which allows senior and veteran residents to receive up to $1,500 toward their property tax for working in town offices.

Article 19 approves the $5.1 million Affordable Housing Trust Fund Allocation Plan for the next year.

Article 20 outlines the town's Fiscal Year 2022 Community Preservation Fund appropriation and reserves

Article 21 allows payment in lieu of taxes from the Solar Facility at Sutton Brook Landfill to the Solid Waste, Recycling and Household Hazardous Waste fund.

Article 22 allows revenues from town and school charging station to go to the Energy Efficiency of Town & School Buildings, Equipment and Infrastructure fund

Article 23 creates a new E-Billboard self-sufficient revolving fund. The town has one approved E-Billboard with projected revenue of $50,000 per year.

Article 24 allows the Board of Selectmen to grant or accept easements in Fiscal Year 2022 if needed to prevent delays to Department of Public Works projects.

Article 25 transfers 80 acres of town land to the Conservation Commission.

Article 26 authorizes the sale of town land for 3 units of affordable housing.

Article 27 increases the real estate tax exemption for seniors from $500 to $1000.

Article 28 changes the Planning Board term from five years to three years, matching other elected town offices.

Article 29 funds the first of three years of cost of living increases for non-union town employees, with a first year cost of $111,251.

The annual town meeting warrant is available here. Supplemental information is available here. Detailed budget information is available here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.