This time period provides voters an opportunity to access our town budget in the planning stage and to have our voices heard about our operating budget prior to town meeting voting.

Some excerpts from Town Administrator (TA) website January 7, 2025 and October 1st 2024 reports:

https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/439/Town-Administrators-Office

• TA Johnson continues to work in development of his recommended Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) which begins July 1, 2025.
• General Fund budget is recommended each year at this time for the Select Board’s consideration. He is supporting the Capital Planning Committee (CapCom) development of their recommended Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as well. 
• The TA Office hosted an Insurance Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at which the town’s unions representatives received an overview from Blue Cross Blue Shield as to projected cost increases based on current and trending loss-ratios. That insight is considered when developing the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) general fund budget that includes benefits for all subscribing town employees, including school department employees (Author Note: this is the second largest budget category of the town’s budget). 
• For the Annual Town Meeting scheduled for May 19, 2025, “placeholder” (conceptual, rough draft) articles due to the TA Office via Greg Wilson by February 14, 2025, and fully drafted articles are due February 28, 2025. 

You can find current FY 2026 budget information on boarddocs here.

In the top right corner, click Select Board and you can see all documents posted from past meetings in the agenda pulldown. The January 7, 2025 Select Board Agenda item 7A  shows four attached files with current updated data and background being provided to stakeholder groups/committees. Or view and download the files below.

What to expect next on the budget development

From the Town Financial Policy Manual published on the Select Board website department page, some upcoming FY 2026 budget calendar overview and milestones:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/958/Financial-Policy-Manual-PDF

The Government Finance Officers Association considers it of the greatest importance for an explanation to be included as a part of the legislative discussion (town meeting), explaining the key issues of importance included in the budget document. It is equally important to distribute this information to the general public to give them a greater understanding of the issues confronting the community. 

Annual Joint Committee Budget review on Saturday Feb 8th, 2025 (Location TBA)

The Select Board shall adopt a Capital Improvement Plan for the next fiscal year, no later than the second Saturday in March. 

The Select Board  will review the Town Administrator’s proposed Annual Budget and formally approve a final proposal of the Annual Budget to the Town Meeting, no later than the second Saturday in April of each year.  

The Select Board, School Committee, and Finance Committee will make every effort to reconcile any differences that may exist between their recommendations. 

The Select Board, per the Town By-Law, shall present its recommended Annual Budget to the Town Meeting (in May). 

The Select Board ’s budget proposal shall provide a complete financial plan of all general and enterprise funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year, and accompanying budget message, and supporting documents. 

The budget message from the Select Board shall explain the proposed budget for all Town agencies in fiscal terms and in terms of work programs. It shall outline the proposed financial policies for the Town for the ensuing fiscal year, describe the important features of the budget, indicate any major differences from the current fiscal year in financial policies, expenditures, and revenues, together with the reason(s) for such changes, summarize the Town’s debt position, and include such other material as the Board deems desirable or the Finance Committee and Town Meeting may reasonably require.  The Finance Committee, representing the Town Meeting, shall hold at least one public hearing to discuss both operating and capital budget proposals.