Finance panel votes to oppose Wachusett budget
The Paxton Finance Committee voted to recommend disapproval of the Wachusett Regional School District budget, its first such vote in years. Chair Mark Love led the panel through three linked warrant articles tied to a $640,000 Proposition 2½ override headed to a May 11 ballot.
Finance Committee · Meeting of April 28, 2026
PAXTON — The Paxton Finance Committee voted to recommend disapproval of the Wachusett Regional School District budget, its first such vote in years. Chair Mark Love led the panel through three linked warrant articles tied to a $640,000 Proposition 2½ override headed to a May 11 ballot. Members voted 5-1 against the Wachusett assessment, which rose 2.9 percent after an 8 percent jump the prior year, and unanimously backed the town's own override-dependent budget.
Member Karl Ottmar initially moved to oppose Bay Path's budget, citing an 18.2 percent assessment increase against 2.48 percent state aid growth, warning "the people of Paxton, they should know that," but the committee ultimately voted 5-1-1 to recommend approval. The panel also rescinded, 5-2, its earlier approval of a $12,400 revaluation prepayment, then voted 4-2 to recommend disapproval, and flagged warrant language errors on a police vehicle lease and a ballot listing an F-150 instead of the recommended F-350 truck.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,126 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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