Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Capital Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bridgewater-Raynham committee amends FY26 capital budget; towns to cover $1.692 million assessment
Summary
The regional school committee voted to restore capital items to the FY26 budget and assessed Raynham $716,362 and Bridgewater $976,138, sending the amendment to each town for appropriation.
The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee voted Wednesday to amend its fiscal year 2026 budget to restore capital projects that had been removed during this summer’s budget drafting. The committee approved an assessment of $716,362 for Raynham and $976,138 for Bridgewater, a combined capital assessment of $1,692,500, and sent the amended budget to each town for appropriation.
Committee members said the capital items had been taken out of the spring budget to align with town timelines and will now be added back after towns finalize fall free-cash certifications. "Currently, right now, in terms of capital expenses...we had to remove capital from the budget… and so what's tonight is to vote to amend the budget to include those capital items," Superintendent Powers said during the discussion.
The committee discussed alignment with state and regional rules before the vote. Powers said the administration was coordinating with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the state Division of Local Services (DOR) to confirm whether the district and towns may follow a fall timeline for capital appropriations under their regional agreement. He said a meeting with DESE (and possibly DOR) was expected soon to confirm the timeline.
Vice Chair Loach moved the amendment and Mr. Fitzgibbons seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote; no numerical roll-call tally was provided in the meeting record.
If approved by voters/legislative bodies in each town, the appropriation will be considered during a Raynham special town meeting and a Bridgewater Town Council vote in November, officials said. The committee noted the capital items themselves were not changed from the original list approved in the spring; they were simply restored at a later point in the fiscal cycle so towns could appropriate the funds when their free-cash timelines were aligned.
The vote returns the capital request to the district’s FY26 plan and allows scheduled projects to move forward if the towns appropriate the assessments this fall.
Details of the approved assessments and next steps were included in the committee packet.
