Maynard Boards Reach Consensus on Override for Schools, Seniors, and Trash

MAYNARD -- February 8, 2025, Maynard's Select Board, Finance Committee, and School Committee aligned Saturday on the need for a spring Proposition 2½ override to cover a school funding gap, a senior center lease, and a structural solid waste deficit. Town Administrator Greg Johnson, participating remotely, told the joint session that a roughly $215,000 budget hole has opened since his January 21 recommendation, driven by a projected MIIA health insurance increase averaging 14.8 percent across member towns and a $39,000 revenue shortfall from the governor's House 1 budget. Superintendent Brian Hoskins put the school district's funding request at $24,998,390 against a recommended allocation of $23,487,629, a gap he said could be reduced to roughly $850,000 by drawing on revolving accounts, though those accounts are generating only about $5,000 per month, down from $50,000. Finance Committee member Nathan Bickford's five-year model showed the average single-family tax bill rising from $8,077 today to roughly $9,500 by FY30 with no override, and to approximately $10,795 if all items under discussion, totaling about $2.3 million, are approved. State Representative Kate Hogan and State Senator Jamie Eldridge warned that Chapter 70 aid increases for communities like Maynard are unlikely to be significant this session, and that federal funding uncertainty adds further risk to the state's bottom line.