Hubbardston leaders outline FY26 budget gap, capital requests as town hearing continues

Town officials laid out the Town of Hubbardston’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget and related warrant articles at a public hearing April 20, with the town administrator calling the meeting the first of two hearings before the Select Board finalizes the warrant.

Town Administrator Nate Boudreaux led the presentation and said the operating budget proposed for fiscal 2026 totals $11,805,534, an increase of about 5.8 percent over FY25. He said projected revenues for FY26 total $11,640,996, leaving what he described as a structural gap the town plans to cover in part with one-time resources: “This is a balanced approach to service delivery and fiscal sustainability,” Boudreaux said, and later explained the town proposes using $99,539 of free cash for one-time items and reclassifying several prior one-time allocations to avoid recurring uses of free cash.

Why it matters: the operating budget and warrant determine local tax levies, school assessments, capital projects and spending limits for permit/revolving accounts. Officials said most of the town’s operating cost increase is driven by fixed costs and the school assessment, and the warrant contains both routine administrative votes and several substantive capital and policy proposals that will return for more detailed hearings.

Key budget details and proposed uses of one-time funds - Operating budget: $11,805,534 (FY26 proposed). - Revenue estimate: $11,640,996 (FY26 projected). Boudreaux said the gap between revenues and the proposed budget reflects long-running structural pressure on municipal budgets, notably school costs. - Free cash and one-time reclassification: about $99,539 proposed from free cash to cover one-time fixes and bridge items; Boudreaux said $65,000 originally budgeted for a boiler project was freed when that project received grant funding. He described the free-cash use as a bridge item and said the town intends to reduce reliance on free cash over time. - Specific reclassifications described during the hearing included $30,000 toward one-time operating expenses, $15,000 to fund an overnight stipend program for on-call firefighters, $20,000 for a one-time part-time town planner position, and $20,000 for annual e-permitting and…