Finance Committee Approves Municipal Budgets With Town More Than $700,000 in Deficit

Finance Committee · Meeting of March 4, 2026

West Brookfield Finance Committee approves a string of lean municipal budgets while warning the town is more than $700,000 in deficit. At the March 4 session, the committee recommended funding for 14 department accounts, ranging from a $300 Advisory Committee expense line to a $421,120 highway payroll, while holding Stormwater and Tree Warden budgets for further review. School officials, appearing before the committee, said the district had gone through its budget line by line and had nothing left to cut, with out-of-district special education placements running $100,000 to $150,000 per student driving costs upward.

"We're starting 700 in the hole right now," one committee member said. The school is targeting a March 17 deadline to finalize an override number for a May 5 Proposition 2.5 vote. In a bright spot, the Cemetery Commission voted to use interest from a roughly $380,000 Perpetual Care Fund to cover its full $5,550 expense budget.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of March 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.