Wayland Town Crier 4/10/14: Operating budget passes Wayland Town Meeting. With a looming 10 percent tax hike, participants at the first session of annual Town…

Wayland Schools: FY12 School Budget Booklet is posted online.

2/24/10: No override expected, but residents to vote on capital items. Wayland residents will not be asked to approve an override for fiscal 2011 due to a healthy reserve of free cash and ambulance receipts used to balance the town operating budget of $58.8 million recommended by the Finance Committee. This marks the second year in a row without an override request. A $610,000 deficit in the operating budget will be filled by taking $250,000 from free cash and $360,000 from ambulance receipts. However, voters will be asked to approve $2.35 million in capital items at the polls and at Town Meeting in May that will cause a temporary increase in the tax rate. Finance Committee Chairman Sam Peper presented the proposed FY11 budget at a public hearing on Monday.

FinCom's Budget Presentation from February 22 is available online here.

The Board of Selectmen voted to consolidate the Town election originally planned for Tuesday, May 4 with the special election that has been called to…

Wayland Town Crier 1/12/10: More talks on Wayland Public Schools budget cuts. The Finance Committee delivered some good news in a grim budget season this week with the announcement of adjusted budget guidelines that positively impact previously requested expense reductions. Revenue that was not in the FinCom’s original estimates for fiscal 2011 includes $150,000 in additional new growth, revenue from the local options meal tax passed at special Town Meeting in November, and some savings in utility costs. New revenue and utility savings will reduce the town’s budget shortfall from $1.7 million to $1.4 million in FY11, which lasts from July 2010 to June 2011. The school budget share of that adjusted expense reduction is $980,000, giving the administration $210,000 to work back into their budget. The town share of the adjusted expense reduction is $420,000. FinCom member Cherry Karlson delivered the welcome news to the School Committee at its meeting on Monday night following her committee’s vote to approve the new guidelines. However, Karlson warned this is not a cause for optimism. The FinCom wants all town departments to find ways to control expenses and grow revenues to achieve sustainable change in next year’s town budget.

Wayland Town Crier 1/5/10: Tough talks about proposed cuts for Wayland Public Schools. Questions from residents and responses from school officials at a school budget forum on Monday brought to mind the line in "Cool Hand Luke" delivered by Paul Newman: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Attendees, which included a contingent of Wayland High School students, expressed difficulty in deciphering the details behind line items in the budget, and anger that effective teachers might be laid off due to lack of seniority, prompting frustration from residents and school officials alike. School Committee Chairman Louis Jurist presented the $30.3 million budget for the 2010-11 school year, which is $725,000 less than the current school year. The proposed budget is the first since 1981 to represent a decrease in school funding.