Maynard Finance Committee Debates Pension Stipend, School Budget Gap, and Water Bond

MAYNARD -- March 9, 2026, Maynard Finance Committee weighs pension stipend, school budget gap, and a potential $25 million water bond as Annual Town Meeting approaches. Meeting remotely on March 9, the seven-member committee heard from the Maynard Retirement Board, which is again seeking $3,000 stipends for four of its five members, an article town meeting rejected 57-53 last year, with members split on whether to change their prior "does not recommend" position given a total cost of $12,000 and an ongoing unfunded actuarial liability of roughly $14 million. The Maynard Public Schools presented a superintendent's budget of $25,575,000, roughly $397,000 above the town administrator's recommended figure of $25,177,500, with Superintendent Brian telling the committee the gap would be closed through retirement savings and a preschool revolving account rather than new appropriations. The committee's most consequential unresolved issue is a proposed $25 million, 30-year water and sewer infrastructure bond that would cost the town approximately $1.7 million annually in debt service, translating to about $400 per year on the average single-family tax bill under an override scenario, with DPW Director Justin scheduled to brief the committee on March 30, just two weeks before written ATM recommendations are due April 15.