Wayland Board of Public Works Backs Tax-Levy Route for Water Project Financing

WAYLAND — August 19, 2025 — Wayland Board of Public Works votes to recommend real estate tax subsidy for $35 million dual-source water project. The board voted 4-0 Tuesday to recommend that the Select Board use MGL Chapter 59, Section 21C to cover some share of the project's $2.1 million annual debt service — set to begin in fiscal year 2029 — through the property tax levy rather than water rates alone, with the Select Board to determine the exact percentage. Chair George Avigis warned that funding the full amount through water rates would produce a 74 percent rate increase over five years, a figure he called "a shocker" compared to an equivalent 2.3 percent property tax increase. A straw poll split three ways — member Tsung Chiang for all-rates, member Judy Ling for all-taxes, and Vice Chair Michael Spelman for a hybrid — before the board converged on the Section 21C approach. Select Board Chair Carol Martin and Finance Committee Vice Chair Carl Barnes attended as guests; Barnes said he had shifted from favoring water rates to supporting the real estate tax approach. The board also voted 4-0 to release a request for qualifications for a transfer station evaluation and approved its annual report draft, while noting that Baldwin Pond is operating at roughly two-thirds capacity due to a failed membrane skid and that the town remains under a full outdoor water ban.