Wayland Finance Committee advances $99.8 million budget with 6.37 percent tax hike

WAYLAND — March 6, 2023 — Wayland Finance Committee advances $99.8 million FY24 budget with 6.37 percent tax-rate increase. The committee voted 6-0 Monday to transfer $450,000 from the sale of real estate fund to offset Council on Aging debt service, after a $1.1 million state aid bump helped trim what had been a projected 10 percent tax-rate jump. Special education is up $1.74 million, or 48 percent, to roughly $5.4 million, and debt service jumps $1.75 million from last October's $21 million bond. Parent advocates Courtney Connery of SEPAC and Elizabeth Cullen of the Spanish Immersion PAC urged restoration of two unfilled bilingual and English-learner positions; Connery said cuts "should not be made on the backs of children with disabilities." The committee conditionally backed a new Special Education Reserve Fund seeded with $150,000 and recommended joining the MWRA on a 5-1 vote.