WORTHINGTON — The town is facing a more than $30,000 structural deficit heading into Town Meeting Saturday morning, with an estimated $6.3 million budget anticipated for fiscal year 2027.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the gymnasium of the R.H. Conwell School, 147 Huntington Road. Child care will be provided.
There is no discussion of an override, says Finance Chair Joe Boudreau and Select Board Chair Charley Rose. Right now, the town is waiting to see how assessors calculate new growth and to see how much money the town will receive from the state from so-called “cherry sheets.”
At the moment, exact numbers are blurry, and there is no realistic way of calculating how much taxes may or may not go up, said Boudreau. As Rose also said, “there are a lot of moving targets.”
Boudreau said that without excess capacity in the budget, holding an annual Town Meeting without a finalized budget is “the new normal” after two consecutive years of the town floating overrides that voters have rejected.
Depending on the outcome, there may still be a deficit. Boudreau said officials can’t keep requesting overrides from the community after they turn them down, so any needed funds would most likely be drawn from the $2 million stabilization fund. He says that’s not a good tenet of finance, noting that the fund should be used solely for capital projects.
Of the 30 articles prepared for Town Meeting, some capital items to be voted on include a new $60,000 tractor, a $5,000 welder and $7,000 worth of fuel storage systems for the Highway Department.
One notable article, Article 27, will be a citizen petition that calls on the town to bring in more legal expertise as officials wrangle with large-scale solar developments. The measure would require the hiring of an independent, second legal opinion regarding the review, strategy, and long-term governance of such projects.
“This request is about ensuring that the town is making fully informed decisions on projects that will shape the Worthington that the next generations will inherit,” said Helen Sharron Pollard, who spearheaded the petition.
She has been a staunch advocate for keeping solar out of town and has rallied a coalition against it since last fall, and says receiving outside legal aid will protect the town from more powerful and well-funded developers.
“A second legal opinion is a standard, prudent step when dealing with complex, long-term matters,” said Pollard. “It does not replace existing counsel, but rather provides an opportunity to confirm that all issues have been properly considered and that no material gaps remain.”
Pollard contends that the town will not need to pay for the extra legal help, saying that it will be funded by applicants. Rose said no town money has been appropriated for additional counsel.
Article 26 will allow Rose to be paid for being the town’s “webmaster,” as he records all Zoomed meetings in town. He has been doing it for two years, and receives a stipend of $2,000 a year.
However, he has not been paid for the last year because a citizen complained about an possible ethics violation. The State Ethics Commission advised the town to ask voters to ratify the stipend at an annual Town Meeting. Rose said he is making about $5 an hour for his efforts.
