Pepperell Selectmen to Vote on $1.46 Million Override or Deep Service Cuts by March 22

PEPPERELL -- March 11, 2019, Pepperell selectmen weighed a $1.46 million tax override against cuts that would eliminate up to five positions, including two police officers and an ambulance employee, at the March 11 board meeting. Town Administrator Andrew presented fiscal 2020 projections showing total available revenue of $27,809,571 against a structural gap of roughly $1.5 million that has grown from two decades of using free cash to fund general operations, with the stabilization fund receiving no new deposits in 10 years. Without an override, the budget balances with a surplus of just $52.87 but would require layoffs across police, ambulance, and town hall, while the override scenario, costing the average household roughly $360 to $370 per year, would restore priority cuts and produce a projected $110,000 surplus in fiscal 2021. Police Chief David Scott challenged the process, saying his department submitted a strictly level-funded budget while other departments carried aspirational increases, and pressed for overtime funding given a pending six-month National Guard deployment. The board agreed to meet March 18 to finalize and vote the budget before the March 22 warrant deadline, with the balanced budget to carry a Proposition 2.5 override question to the April 22 annual town election.