Winchester public hearing draws strong support for schools as town manager presents $40.7 million budget

At its April 7 meeting, the Winchester Board of Selectmen held a public hearing on the town manager’s proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget after a presentation by Town Manager Paul Harrington.

The proposed budget totals $40,743,139, down slightly from $40,806,370 in the previous year when a $2.05 million fund-balance transfer is removed from the prior-year total. Harrington said the proposal would raise the mill rate from 27.24 to 29.20 as presented, a 1.96-mill (about 7.2%) increase; after Board of Assessment Appeals adjustments discussed during the meeting, staff computed a working mill-rate estimate of 29.15 (about a 1.91-mill, roughly 7.0% increase).

The hearing drew extensive public comment in support of maintaining the Board of Education’s request. Nora Lukarski, chairperson of the Winchester Board of Education, told the selectmen the school board voted 9–0 to approve its budget and urged the selectmen to ask the superintendent what additional cuts would mean. “We combed over and we cut our own budget … I do ask that you ask Dr. Luby what the scenarios would look like if we further cut,” Lukarski said.

Why it matters: the school budget is the largest portion of town spending and a central political issue as the selectmen finalize numbers. The manager said the school ask is near a 7% increase (about $1.5 million) driven mainly by rising special-education costs and health-benefit increases.

Details and discussion

Harrington walked the board through revenue and expenditure drivers: a modest increase in locally raised tax revenue requested ($11,577,000 in the manager’s summary), a nearly flat state aid line (he said the town received only about $6,700 more from the state than last year) and a total grand list that fell by just under $5 million overall (with motor-vehicle values down roughly $4.2 million and personal property up roughly $2 million). He told the board capital requests total about $1.9 million of which roughly $1.5 million is proposed from the general fund and about $400,000 from non-general sources or grants.

Harrington emphasized two line-item cost drivers the schools flagged in public comments: increased special-education expenses (about $360,000) and higher health-benefit costs (more than $400,000). “While inflation has risen more than 30% over the last dozen years, our school budget rose only 12%,” he said when urging investment to sustain improvements in the school system.

Residents who spoke at the hearing framed the proposed school spending as an investment in property values and town vitality. Robin Lundbois, a parent with twins in pre-K, said cutting full-time pre-K would be “a betrayal of our youngest learners.” Kevin Bishop and others urged the selectmen to support the superintendent and the board of education’s request.

Board action and procedure

No final vote to adopt the budget occurred; the session was a public hearing and question-and-answer period. The selectmen approved a slate of routine items during the meeting: approval of the March 17 minutes with corrections (motion and second; outcome recorded as unanimous), the reappointment of Jack Bork to the Soldiers Monument Commission with term to expire June 2029 (motion, second; unanimous), and a motion to close the public hearing (unanimous).

The board scheduled two special meetings to continue budget deliberations: Thursday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. and Thursday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m., and retained its regular meeting on May 1 (the transcript records an April 21 and May 1 planning cadence). Harrington reminded the board that the proposed timeline requires finalizing the budget for the annual town meeting by April 25; the annual town meeting is scheduled for May 12 and the earliest legally permissible referendum date is Tuesday, May 27.

Other meeting items

During new business the board discussed municipal priorities including capital projects, road work previously bonded, and the Sue Grossman trail planning. Harrington reported about $2.7 million of previously funded capital projects no longer need additional funding and listed 27 proposed capital requests out of 59 departmental submissions.

Executive session

The board moved into executive session to discuss the town manager’s annual review and returned to public session at 10:21 p.m. The selectmen announced that the town manager review found he had “exceeded our expectations” and that his contract will be reviewed by the town attorney and returned to the board for final action at a later date.

Next steps

The selectmen signaled that more line-item detail and suggested cuts will be provided at the special meetings in April. Harrington said he will provide the board with debt-service schedules, a list of capital items that would be postponed if the municipal renewable-energy payment does not materialize, and further details requested by selectmen. The board may vote to amend and finalize the proposed budget before the April 25 submission deadline.