West Brookfield Finance Committee Approves Dozens of Budgets, Holds Highway Line

Finance Committee · Meeting of May 20, 2026

West Brookfield's Finance Committee rescinded and re-approved more than two dozen department budgets at its May 20 session, still needing to find roughly $50,000 in cuts before the Annual Town Meeting. Town Administrator Teresa Kofke guided the committee through line items ranging from a $94,554 Select Board salary account — reduced after board members voluntarily surrendered their $4,500 in stipends — to a $5,175,935 Quabbin Regional School District assessment, the single largest appropriation of the night, which reflects a $100,000 reduction from the school committee's original request but includes a state-mandated minimum contribution increase of $342,000. The vocational schools assessment was set at $296,252.

Secretary positions across nearly all volunteer boards were zeroed out, prompting one member to warn that professionally maintained minutes are "our connection to the rest of the town." The highway department budget was held for a subsequent session, and the committee approved a $4,000 reserve fund transfer for a Veterans Affairs burial benefit subject to full state reimbursement.

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• The complete report — 1,348 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of May 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.