Preliminary FY27 budget shows 10.35% increase; committee votes to lock athletic-complex principal schedule

At the Dec. 17 Northborough–Southborough Regional School Committee meeting, finance staff presented a preliminary FY27 'level services' budget that would increase the regional operating budget by $3,073,714 — a 10.35% rise over FY26 — chiefly driven by special-education transportation and out-of-district tuition, collaborative tuition, health-insurance cost increases and salaries.

Becky, the district finance presenter, said the preliminary request started higher and that offsets (including circuit-breaker receipts and other adjustments) reduced the ask to 10.35%: "The FY27 preliminary budget is a level services budget... a $3,073,714 increase over FY26 and it is a 10.35% increase over FY26," she said.

Why it matters: administrators warned that to get to a lower increase the district would need to find line-item offsets and consider staffing reductions. The presentation showed an illustrative path to a 5% increase would require roughly 11 FTE reductions and a 3% increase would require about 17 FTEs, with consequent impacts to class sizes and programming.

Budget tradeoffs and next steps: staff said they could identify about $500,000 in non-personnel offsets but that the remainder would likely come from personnel changes or benefits redesign, and they advised engagement with the operational budget subcommittee. The committee scheduled further budget work and a revised preliminary budget presentation for January.

Athletic complex financing: the committee also reviewed permanent financing options for the athletic complex bonds. Staff presented two amortization structures and recommended the ‘‘level principal’’ option as it produces lower total interest over a 12-year term. The committee voted unanimously to support that option and to revise payment due dates to align with town assessment schedules.

The vote: A motion to support option 2 (level principal payments with revised dates) passed by roll call with all present members recorded as 'yes.' Committee members said the guidance would help town finance officials as they prepare assessments for next year.

Ending: Administrators noted insurance and special-education costs remain significant drivers. The committee asked staff to continue to look for offsets, explore health-plan design changes with the towns, and return with options to the operational budget subcommittee in January.