Finance committee recommends $54.37 million municipal budget; incorporates $35 million bond package

The Town of Yarmouth Finance Committee on March 11 recommended the municipal budget for the upcoming town meeting, approving a $54,370,811 warrant that now includes principal and interest from a planned $35 million bond issue scheduled for April.

Jennifer, who presented the budget materials, said the only substantive changes since the packet were debt-service numbers tied to the bond: “we're going to have a $35 million bond issue in April. So, I'm incorporating principal and interest into the budget,” she said, and listed projects funded by the borrowing, including water system work, Riverview Park through the Community Preservation Committee, a quin t pumper for the fire department, $4.4 million for equalization tanks at the septage facility, and a $1.4 million sanitation pad.

The presenters emphasized that most of the bond-supported projects will be paid from enterprise or restricted funds rather than the general fund. Jennifer said, “in water it will be water revenue,” and noted that sanitation costs will be the primary component that hits the general fund.

Committee members moved to recommend Article 2 and conducted a roll-call vote; the motion carried unanimously (4–0). The committee then proceeded to recommend related enterprise and capital warrant articles, including the water division article (water principal and interest of roughly $1.9 million incorporated), the $4.4 million septage enterprise appropriation (with a separate future article of about $2.8 million to finish the work), and other capital items. Each of these motions was approved by roll call.

The committee also considered school-related assessments and an override for Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. Staff said the Cape Cod Tech assessment will require an override of $680,197 (staff estimated this equates to roughly six cents per $1,000 of assessed value or about $45 for an average household); the committee recommended Article 9, including the override, by unanimous roll call.

The committee’s recommendations are advisory to the full town meeting; each appropriation and bond authorization will be presented for a townwide vote at the annual meeting. The finance committee scheduled a follow-up meeting next week to finalize remaining recommendations and to address a high-profile library project that was presented later in the evening.