Pepperell Finance Committee Recommends $1 Million Override to Close Budget Gap

PEPPERELL — February 10, 2014 — Pepperell selectmen hear preliminary $1 million override recommendation as structural deficit grows to $529,000 for fiscal year 2015. Finance Committee Chair Melissa told the Board of Selectmen at its February 10 meeting that a higher-than-projected Nashoba Valley Technical High School assessment — up 22 percent from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 — pushed the town's cumulative five-year deficit from roughly $3.25 million to more than $4 million, making the largest of three override options the committee's tentative preference. A $1 million override would cost the owner of a $282,000 home — near the town average — approximately $262 per year; factoring in a proposed North Middlesex Regional High School debt exclusion based on a maximum pre-bid estimate, that same homeowner could see a combined annual increase of $742. The committee is scheduled to bring a firm recommendation to the board's next meeting in two weeks, ahead of a May 5 annual town meeting. The board also voted unanimously to appoint Elliot Cohen and John Ladick to fill two of three open Finance Committee seats, and heard a project update from state ecologist Alex Axman estimating Turner Dam removal at approximately $350,000 with a target construction window of summer 2015.