Finance Committee Approves 15 Budgets, Defers Fire and Highway Reviews

Finance Committee · Meeting of April 8, 2026

West Brookfield's Finance Committee approved roughly 15 department budgets for fiscal year 2027 at its April 8 meeting, with a 73 percent increase in vocational school costs emerging as the sharpest line item. Account 380, covering tuition and transportation to regional vocational schools — primarily Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School — was recommended at $396,252.48, up from the prior year, driven by rising per-student tuition costs even as transportation spending fell from a fiscal year 2025 actual of approximately $35,000 to a budgeted $12,000. Municipal lighting was approved at $48,925, a 13.8 percent increase, with members warning that electricity rates could climb an additional 10 to 30 percent next year.

Veterans services was set at $51,000 total, after two or three new beneficiaries pushed that account into deficit. Fire and highway department budgets were deferred to the April 15 meeting, pending appearances by the new fire chief and the highway superintendent. A fiscal coordinator told the committee that a worst-case-scenario budget book is under staff review and, if accurate, shows that current planned cuts fall well short of closing the town's structural deficit.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.