Weston finance subcommittee says $110M middle‑school proposal "unworkable," presents lower‑cost scenarios and tax impacts

Weston — The Board of Finance's debt‑capacity subcommittee told residents on Feb. 26 that the Weston Board of Education's spring proposal to build a new middle school at a gross cost of $110,000,000 is "unworkable" under the assumptions in the subcommittee's model and would saddle the town with too much debt.

"We find that the board of education's proposal from last spring to build a $110,000,000 middle school [is] unworkable," Board of Finance chairman Michael Limber said, summarizing the subcommittee's top finding. He said the model assumes a 20% state reimbursement and, on that basis, would leave Weston responsible for roughly $88,000,000.

The subcommittee, made up of Limber, vice chairman Jeff Farr and members Roan Baldwin and Chris Bryant, presented results from 30 scenarios that vary operating‑budget growth rates, capital plans and amortization lengths. "The importance of this modeling effort is to establish some guardrails around the amount of debt the town of Weston can theoretically issue while maintaining a ... bond rating," Farr said.

Why it…