As the budget season approaches, Town Manager Elaine Lazarus discussed at Tuesday’s Select Board meeting a new document that serves as a resident’s guide to the town’s finances that includes information about the town’s expenditures and debt service.
Created by the Finance Department, it will be a useful tool to help people understand where the town stands fiscally, Lazarus shared. It will be available on the town’s website and in town buildings shortly.
Chair Brian Herr presented a stark picture of the situation, which was backed up with information from Kyla LaPierre, the town’s chief financial officer.
Based on what has been approved, LaPierre said that in fiscal year 2025, the debt payment is $7.6 million.
“In FY 26, it doubles,” she explained. “And it keeps going up.”
The average homeowner with a current tax bill of $12,500 will see that number jump to $18,500 by 2030, according to LaPierre. This is if the town does not incur any future debt.
Herr explained that more expensive homes could see their taxes go from $20,000 to $30,000 or more in five years.
Stressed Herr: “These increases are real, and they are massive.”
This needs to be taken into account when departments come forward requesting money for projects, he added.
“I don’t think the residents understand that,” said LaPierre. “I’m nervous for the town, especially for people on limited incomes.”
Member Shahidul Mannan attributed this to the “tremendous growth” in the town, which has necessitated infrastructure improvements.
Future budget planning measures outlined
Because the town will begin the budget process next month, Mannan asked board members to discuss the strategy regarding the capital budget process moving forward, including how capital projects are selected.
He brought up his ideas about the capital budget process with several key town officials in light of the tight financial times and the amount of debt service the town has encumbered due to large-scale projects. Mannan said he would like to see a scoring mechanism for prioritizing projects.
He also suggested a review and potential revision of the budgetary policy with the assistance of LaPierre. She can work with stakeholders on a framework in preparation for the Select Board’s budget preparation sessions.
Mannan mentioned that the town has had an increase in free cash. He wanted to analyze how and from where that money came about.
Member Mary Jo LaFreniere suggested a town-wide financial session, possibly at the Senior Center, to educate the public about the budget process.
She added: “We really, really have to concentrate on the debt.”
Member Joe Clark said it would be helpful to have an amortization table so that the public could see how much debt accrues every year based on the status of various town projects, such as the schools.
“I think and hope everyone understands that we need to slow down and do fewer projects until we kind of catch up with that debt,” member Amy Ritterbusch added.
Town hiring process may be reevaluated
As part of the budgetary review process, Herr stressed that the hiring review process needs to be reevaluated. While he did not want to speak about a hiring freeze, he proposed a hiring review process for any new employees. A department head would need to justify why a position is necessary rather than ask to hire someone to fill a vacancy, potentially cutting costs “at a time when we can’t afford to hire.”
Said Herr: “We need to have a conversation before we even post a job, if we even need that job.”
Measures need to be put in place now to “ride out the storm of debt service that’s coming at us.”
Ritterbusch expressed some skepticism given the current hiring climate, adding that there isn’t a recession like there was in 2008.
“Municipalities don’t pay as well as the private sector, and I don’t want to lose good people because we’re too slow.”
She gave the example of the recent departure of the assistant town clerk as the election nears as a stressor when the position clearly is necessary.
Added Lazarus: “What standards is the board going to apply to filling vacancies?”
Clark suggested a “middle ground” where, if a vacancy is urgent, Lazarus and a department head could come before the board, explain the request, and get it approved “within minutes.” Less critical roles could take a longer time to review. He stressed his confidence in Lazarus’s judgment.
“I hear what you’re saying about it slowing us down, but it shouldn’t stall us,” said Herr.
This topic will be revisited at the next meeting.
Water and sewer advisory board discussed
Discussion revolved around the composition of a proposed water and sewer advisory board. This body would be able to advise the Select Board on issues such as PFAS, the potential MWRA connection and water discoloration issues, water and sewer rates, and the enterprise fund, Lazarus said.
Mannan suggested that the draft charge include more language regarding PFAS, which has been a huge issue in Hopkinton in recent years. He also said this board would be an important tool to connect with and educate town residents about the town’s “commitment to clean water.”
Ritterbusch said she was concerned that this advisory board might hinder the progress made addressing the PFAS issue and the MWRA connection. She also doubted whether professionals would apply to be on this board when the town often has a hard time filling committee vacancies.
Clark noted that there are professionals in this field in town who may be willing to serve, and Mannan agreed. LaFreniere said the new boards won’t be able to function “without the right people.”
“We can’t do it all,” stressed Herr, noting that the board serves as water and sewer commissioners without members having expertise in that field. He also said he wanted to slow down the MWRA connection process, which would cost taxpayers $40 million at a time when Hopkinton is hurting financially.
The conversation was tabled to a future meeting.
“ The average homeowner with a current tax bill of $12,500 will see that number jump to $18,500 by 2030, according to LaPierre. This is if the town does not incur any future debt.”. Why is this information not presented at Town Meeting as these projects are voted on? The Elmwood replacement was presented at having an impact of around $900 annually and the Hopkins as around $500 annually. LaPierre is now showing an increase of $6000?! Transparency is severely lacking on these massive school projects, and it seems the full financial picture is withheld from the public at Town Meeting in order to get these projects to pass.
If you’re going to hold a Town finance education session, do it ahead of the next Town Meeting (maybe the evening before) and do it in the same Middle School auditorium. It should also be broadcast on HCAM.
This situation is an OUTRAGE. The estimates on the tax impact of the major capital improvements provided before Town Meeting (where the Elmwood School replacement was approved) were 1/5 of the tax increase estimates presented here.
If these figures are correct, a criminal investigation is in order, along with the IMMEDIATE HALT ON THE ELMWOOD REPLACEMENT PROJECT. I cannot believe that a discrepancy this large was a minor mistake or oversight; this is outright criminal fraud. If the figures are indeed correct and no course correction is made on the capital projects underway, the State needs to step-in and provide management talent to help the Town recover from this disaster. Better yet, a complete takeover of the Towns finances may be in order.
As a Town resident and taxpayer, I DEMAND ACTION NOW. Not before the next Town Meeting or a lame discussion at the Sr. Center or the issue shuffled off to oblivion, NOW.
How many Town Meetings have you personally attended? If the townspeople had been paying attention, this would not be such a HUGE surprise!
I attended all the recent town meetings in person. The tax increase for the capital projects was presented in a siloed manner, and I don’t feel that the cumulative tax impact was made clear to TM voters. If this information was shown in an easy to understand format (as it is now in the Resident’s Guide to Town Finance) I am not sure these large capital projects would have passed so readily. Transparency is lacking here…..perhaps by design.
This is way more than projected at Town “Beating”. There will be no more middle class in Hopkinton because we will have to leave. I am retired on a fixed income and cannot afford this increase. Another stab in the back Hopkinton, thanks.
Maybe it’s time for residents to put their real-estate tax payments into an escrow account for potential payment to the Towne. Then the lies will stop and our leaders will take this issue seriously. Basically, we can no longer afford to throw money at the Towne’s problems.
During the run-up to the Towne Meeting where the Elmwood School replacement was approved, many, many residents pointed to the obscene cost of the school plan and inability of the residents to pay for it. It appears that the only solution left to the plans advocates was to lie, lie and lie again.
This needs an in-depth investigation to understand how this happed, the people responsible for it and how to extract the Towne from the resulting financial debacle. Hopkinton cannot continue to tax residents as it has in previous years; people have no money!! Funds are limited and insolvency may very well be in our future.
Leaders still talk of the hiring process when they should be planning for a 15% reduction in Towne expenses and to go after spending with an “axe”. I love the comment about the difficulty in retaining people when the private sector pays more. Those folks should read a bit more and see the number of private companies slashing payroll costs to the tune of 10% – 15% (or more) over the last year.
Many of our residents are “one paycheck” ahead of starving and you plan on putting this tax increase on them??? Many people today literally have to choose between whether to put food on the table or keep the light on and our leaders are concerned about retention. IMO, you all need to get your “head out of your a__”.