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Hubbardston finance committee approves transfers to close FY26 shortfalls, flags $58,000 debt-service gap
Summary
The Town of Hubbardston finance committee voted to transfer $13,000 from reserve funds to its unemployment trust and approved an intra-department transfer (about $19,621) to cover FY26 shortfalls. The committee was told a debt-service line was underfunded by roughly $58,000, leaving a remaining deficit to be covered when free cash is certified.
The Finance Committee of the Town of Hubbardston approved two transfers on July 14 to help close out fiscal year 2026 and discussed a larger debt-service shortfall that will be handled through the year-end recap process.
Chair said the town accountant had nearly finished closing the books and that the accounting worksheet showed $40,220.35 in estimated available balances and a request to move $19,621 between line items to cover shortfalls. Chair also said the debt-service line for a municipal debt item had been underfunded by about $58,000 and that applying the requested transfers would still leave an estimated $39,186 deficit that would be raised on the fiscal-year recap and offset against certified free cash.
The committee heard that Massachusetts municipalities report negative balances on a year-end recap and that any shortfall shown on the recap will reduce the town's certified free cash when the Department of Revenue (DOR) certifies the roll. The chair told members the town expects certified free cash in late September or October and that those funds will be used first to erase the shortfalls.
On a second matter, the committee approved a request from the accountant to transfer $13,000 from the finance-committee reserve to the town unemployment trust fund to cover past-due FY26 unemployment payments tied to an open claimant. A committee member moved and another seconded the motion; the transfer passed by voice vote.
The committee also approved an intra-department transfer described in the accounting paperwork as $19,621. A member moved to allow the transfer and it was seconded and approved by voice vote. (Note: at one point in the transcript the number is read as $19,641; the accounting worksheet and the committee's paperwork list $19,621. The committee did not provide a roll-call tally in the meeting recording.)
The chair said the FY27 budget the town approved at town meeting has been entered into the accounting software with correct line items and that monthly balance sheets will be distributed going forward to provide clearer tracking of revenues and expenditures. The committee discussed scheduling a fall meeting to focus on the school building project and to participate in the tax-rate classification hearings, which are expected in late November or December.
Next steps: the committee will monitor the open unemployment claim and, if it remains, may need to revisit reserve transfers at the town's next quarterly billing in September; the larger debt-service deficit will be addressed at the time free cash is certified and by any follow-up votes required at subsequent meetings.
