Wayland Town Meeting adopts $104.3M budget, rewrites personnel bylaw

WAYLAND — May 13, 2024 — Wayland Town Meeting approves $104.3M budget and posthumously honors Archibald Cox. Finance Committee Chair Pamela Roman presented the fiscal 2025 omnibus budget — a 4.6 percent increase, with an $89.8 million tax levy up 5.7 percent — which passed 176-35; voters also approved an $8.17 million capital plan, 179-18, including a late-added $526,000 for wastewater membrane repairs that Wastewater commission Chair Mike Gittin said would avoid up to $180,000 in annual maintenance. Roman warned an operating override is likely in fiscal 2026 or 2027. A contested rewrite of Chapter 43 governing the Personnel Board passed 124-68 after George Harris's motion to pass over the article failed 86-110; Personnel Board Chair Mary Ann Peabody said her board voted 3-1-1 in favor. Public Ceremonies Committee member Donna Bouchard delivered the C. Peter R. Gossels Award tribute to former U.S. Solicitor General Archibald Cox, accepted by his son. "The town of Wayland meant an awful lot to all of us," Archibald Cox Jr. said.