SLASHED!

If the override fails, the required budget cuts will impact nearly every aspect of our town services.  The Town of Bolton is legally obligated to fully fund our portion of the Nashoba Valley Regional School District budget, which will see an increase of $1,099,531.  There are also legally mandated increases for Pension, $114,852, and Dispatch, $14,639.  We cannot touch these expenses, they must be made up by cuts elsewhere in the budget.

The Bolton Public Library, Council on Aging (COA), and Parks and Recreation Commission are not the only groups who will see cuts, all municipal (non-Education) departments will also see their budgets slashed:

• Town Hall will have severely reduced hours - $254,982 cut

• The Bolton Transfer Station & Recycling Center will be closed - $196,842 cut

• The local road improvement & maintenance budget will be cut in half - $97,000 cut

• The Town will not replenish funds drawn from the Stabilization Fund in previous years to stave off an override - $230,000 cut

• The Town's Free Cash reserves will be drawn down to a bare minimum - $400,000 cut

• Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) will be funded at only 10% of our obligation - $243,764 cut

• Funding for the Nashoba Cadet EMT Program will be eliminated - $19,372 cut

• A planned purchase of a new police cruiser will be cancelled - $66,550 cut

• Reduced police cruise maintenance - $25,926 cut

• There will be additional cuts required for the Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments - $31,261 cut

Many of these programs and services will likely never be restored.

Roughly half of Bolton residents use the Transfer Station & Recycling Center to dispose of their trash and recycling.  If the override fails, the Transfer Station will close and all of those residents will need to find a commercial service to collect their trash and recycling, at their own expense.  Just as an example, one commercial company provided a quote for weekly collection of two 96 gallon bins, one trash and one recycling, of $858 a year.  If you're a current user of the Transfer Station you could easily pay more to switch to a commercial service than you would in increased taxes.  Unless your home's Assessed Value is greater than $739,655, your tax increase would be less than $858 a year.

The full extent of the effective increase will vary, depending on how many of the town trash bags you currently purchase, as you would no longer need those for commercial collection.  The fewer trash bags you purchase today, the greater the incremental increase you will face when switching to commercial collection.

The Stabilization Fund is like a 'rainy day fund' meant to absorb unexpected expenses, to avoid an emergency impacting the general budget.  Over the past few years the Town has drawn down this Fund to cover revenue shortfalls, delaying the inevitable override that we're now facing.  This has left the Town without a sufficient reserve should unexpected, emergency expenses arise.  Not replenishing this fund in a timely manner increases our collective risk exposure.

Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) are non-pension benefits for retirees, such as health insurance, life insurance and dental insurance.  It is a liability for the Town that was already underfunded last year and the intention was to 'play catch up' with funding this year.  A cut will put us even father behind.  This is an expense that will come due and the underfunded liability threatens to overwhelm future budget planning if funding is not restored.  Each year that this is underfunded the liability grows.

A big piece of the overall cuts come from drawing down the Free Cash, not replenishing already depleted Stabilization Fund, and continuing to underfund OPEB - a total of $873,764.  All three of these are ticking time bombs as the funds must eventually be found, which means the override will need to happen eventually. 

Additionally, leaving the town's coffers in such a precarious state is very likely to lower the Town's bond rating, which is currently AAA.  This directly affects the costs of borrowing for the Town, such as the borrowing necessary to finish the high school, and any future borrowing to capital items such as fire trucks, DPW vehicles, etc.  The higher borrowing costs will be a lasting burden on the town budget.

With the cuts to hours and services across effectively all town departments, this will mean cuts in hours for town employees.  Many of our dedicated, highly-skilled town workers will likely be forced to find new jobs simply to sustain their income.  This will create a talent drain across town departments, further compounding the impact of the initial cuts.  Just replacing and training experienced staff would increase costs.

This is not a short term 'blip'.  

Even if an override were passed for FY27, restoring funding levels, lasting damage will have been done.  Some services will be gone for good, and others would take years to rebuild and recover.