Pepperell Freezes Police Officer, DPW Hire Amid $726,000 School Budget Gap

PEPPERELL — March 14, 2016 — Pepperell freezes two town hires and eyes fee increases after school district assessment rises $726,426. The Board of Selectmen heard Monday from Town Administrator Mark Leahy that the North Middlesex Regional School District's proposed fiscal 2017 assessment of roughly $12,859,000 — a 5.99 percent increase — exceeds the town's budgeted figure by $726,426, forcing a freeze on a net-new fifteenth police officer and a Department of Public Works laborer. Leahy said police overtime must now be funded at approximately $275,000, up from last year's $250,000, because the additional officer will not be hired. A comprehensive fee-and-permits review is underway, with a formal adjustment package expected at the March 28 meeting. Selectwoman Melissa Tzanoudakis called the district's contract salary increases of close to 6 percent per year over three years "grossly irresponsible," saying they "grossly exceed what we can raise" under Proposition 2½. Separately, Leahy reported the town submitted a $400,000 opioid-prevention grant on behalf of a seven-community collaborative; if awarded, a $10,000 mental health clinician line in the police budget would be eliminated.