At the Special Town Meeting last fall, voters passed two new bylaws impacting future Town Meetings. One of those bylaws sets a deadline for Citizen Petition Articles to be added to the Warrant. The second will hopefully help make Town Meetings run quicker. Both were recently ratified by the Attorney General’s office — in time Read the full article → from Town Meeting Update: Citizen Petitions due by February 23
The Select Board voted against using any of the $3M the Town is eligible for in ARPA funds as hazard pay for Southborough Town employees whose jobs put them at elevated risk at the start of the pandemic. Read the full article → from Select Board denies Hazard Pay to Town staff
For over 5 months, the Select Board has put off voting on a recommendation to spend $300K to cover Hazard Pay for public safety and certain other personnel’s work during the pandemic.
Last night, the Board was poised to vote against it. After hearing heartfelt arguments about the impact of Covid on firefighters and police officers, members delayed the vote to their next meeting. Read the full article → from Town unlikely to approve back-Hazard Pay for public safety workers
Although the Town hasn’t yet set next year’s tax rate, the Select Board is predicting that residents will be paying an average of 5.89% more in taxes year. Read the full article → from Tax outlook bleak again (Updated)
The proposed renovation of the Southborough Senior Center is out to bid. A pre-bid conference at the project site is scheduled for Thursday morning. Read the full article → from Senior Center addition out to bid
This week, the Select Board heard from the committee charged with recommending how to use $3M in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Now, the Board will have to decide whether to adhere to those recommendations and how. Read the full article → from Select Board considering recommendation for how to spend $3M in ARPA funds
Last week, the Select Board agreed to allocate $20K to the next phase in a planned renovation at the Southborough Senior Center. Read the full article → from Select Board approves engineering phase for Senior Center addition
Southborough’s ARPA Committee is seeking input from residents. Before recommending how the Town should use $3M in federal funds, they want to hear from residents. Read the full article → from Weigh in on use of ARPA Funds: Survey and Forum
Here are my highlights from the Select Board discussions about budgets and taxes on Tuesday night. Read the full article → from ATM Budget Update: Town targeting <5% tax increase; ARHS allocation hike; and discussions about ARPA and Senior Center
As of this morning, officials were promoting that they still need volunteers for the committee to examine how to spend $3M in federal funds. Read the full article → from ARPA Committee volunteers still sought (for virtual service)
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Town’s decision to create an ARPA Committee. The Select Board is charging a seven member committee with making recommendations on how to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds. The Town is eligible for reimbursements up to $3,051,241. Some restrictions apply to how ARPA funds can be used. Read the full article → from Volunteer to help decide how to spend $3M in Town ARPA funds
This week, the Town’s Assessor explained why projected taxes for average homeowners has increased. Read the full article → from Residents’ tax bills should be higher than projected for ’22; Town to seek input on applying ARPA funds to other uses