Wayland Finance Committee signals likely override for fiscal 2027

WAYLAND — September 8, 2025 — Wayland Finance Committee signals likely Proposition 2½ override for fiscal 2027. Members concluded Monday that a $1.9 million shortfall — reducible to roughly $1.2 million through bond anticipation notes saving about $750,000 — will likely require a ballot question after the Select Board declined to reclassify Department of Public Works debt as excluded debt. The committee also coalesced around a hybrid water-funding recommendation: routing the roughly $20 million MWRA connection into the tax levy as excluded debt while funding PFAS treatment and Happy Hollow through water rates, with the per-customer fixed fee rising from $65 toward $250. "We want to address equity, fairness, water conservation, climate change and public opinion," one member said, citing Select Board member Michael McCall. Projections show $2 million annual gaps stretching into a $6 million-to-$10 million three-year hole.