Hubbardston Cuts Dispatch Bill by $36,000, Pursues State Bond Funding for Three Projects

HUBBARDSTON -- July 13, 2026, Hubbardston Select Board approves $32,621 in year-end transfers, cuts dispatch assessment to $125,000, and authorizes a state bond bill pitch for three town priorities. The board voted 4-0 at its July 13 meeting on all five actions, including two fiscal year 2026 year-end budget transfers, $13,000 from the reserve fund to cover an unemployment deficit and $19,621 reshuffled among more than a dozen departments, as mandated before the July 15 state deadline. A separate unbudgeted debt service payment of $58,807 left the town with a roughly $39,187 general fund deficit requiring future town meeting action. Board member Peter Walker was credited with months of advocacy that persuaded state officials to inject more than $1 million into Central Mass Dispatch, bringing Hubbardston's FY27 assessment down from a requested $172,000 to $125,000, a $36,000 savings. The board also unanimously directed the interim town administrator to submit three priorities to the Massachusetts Legislature's Economic Development Bond Bill: the municipal complex at 48 Gardner Road, the contaminated sandpit at Fitchburg and Gardner Roads, and the town center parcel at 21 Gardner Road, following a daytime tour with State Senator Anne Gobi and State Representative Donnie Berthiaume. Preliminary cost estimates for a new public safety complex stand at $8.9 million for a single-floor option and $10.2 million for a two-floor build-out, with bond counsel now modeling tax impacts across 20-, 30-, and 40-year terms.