Town Manager Jim Malloy believes that despite several large building projects coming up, Westborough can achieve its ten percent debt goal in the next few years.
Photo credit: Danielle Kahn

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – The fiscal year 2013 budget will increase by 3.6 percent from fiscal year 2012, according to Town Manager Jim Malloy. The FY13 Budget and Capital Improvement Plan were presented to the Board of Selectmen at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

In his presentation, Malloy explained that the total proposed budget is $93,537,564, an increase of over $3 million. He said that the property tax estimate for FY13 with the proposed budget is an increase of 3.1 percent.

The budget includes major expenditure increases in insurances, debt services and the Westborough School Department totaling over $2 million. With the increases, there are also expenditure decreases. According to Malloy, building and grounds salaries, library salaries, assessors salaries, Police Department salaries, personnel board salaries, animal control expenses and central purchasing expenses have all decreased.

Malloy said that the town is on track to its goal of keeping the total debt less than 10 percent of the total budget.

“We’re almost at 10 percent right now and we’re on track to reach it in fiscal year 2014,” Malloy said. “Even with the Fire Station, Forbes Municipal Building and Town Hall projects we would be down to 10 percent by fiscal year 2016 and if we add the Gibbons project we’d be there around fiscal year 2017. Either way we’ll stay under 12 percent.”

The municipal building projects as well as the Gibbons Middle School project will appear on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting in March.

The capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2013 includes 11 projects to be considered at Annual Town Meeting. Projects were submitted to the Capital Expenditures Planning Committee and ranked on a number of factors including public safety, infrastructure needs and public support.

“Department heads submit project proposals for items that cost $25,000 or more and the CEPC ranks them. This year the School Department participated as well,” Assistant Town Manager Kristi Williams said. “Then the committee figures out if the funding should come from free cash, borrowing, raise and appropriate or somewhere else.”

Projects on this year’s list include a new set of the Jaws of Life tool for the Fire Department, carpeting on the main level of the Westborough Public Library and Nourse Street Cemetery survey work and road cutting for the Department of Public Works.

To view more information on the FY13 budget or capital improvement plan, visit the Town Manager’s website.