Maynard Finance Committee Backs Water Rebate Program and School Override at Town Meeting

MAYNARD -- April 28, 2025, Maynard Finance Committee recommends water rebate program, school override, and eleven town meeting articles. Meeting Vice Chair Katie Moore presided over an April 28 Zoom session in the absence of Chair Jillian Prendergast, steering the committee to unanimous approval of a $100,000 transfer from the water enterprise reserve fund, the account's first-ever withdrawal, to launch a two-tier in-home filtration rebate program for customers affected by chronic water discoloration. The panel also voted 6-0 to recommend a roughly $612,000 school override set for the May 27 ballot; School Committee representative Natasha warned that without the override the paraprofessional union contract "would need to be reassessed" and programmatic cuts would deepen. The lone divided vote was 4-2 in favor of drawing $478,000 from the general stabilization fund to cover solid waste costs during a transition to a planned FY27 enterprise fund, with Linda Holt and Nathan Wigfield voting no, citing the town's own financial policy guidance and the fund's balance of roughly $2.578 million, well below recommended targets.