Town Manager Weekly Update - March 6, 2025
Elaine Lazarus
Please see the information at the bottom of this email on these upcoming events:
Raising Chickens for Meat: Chicken Keeping 101 - March 22
Rough Sleepers, An Evening With Dr. Jim O’Connell - March 24
Town Meeting: What it Is and How To Participate - March 25
Hank Fredette Skatepark Ribbon Cutting - March 29
Family Fling - March 29
Hopkinton Youth & Family Services March Newsletter: HYFS March 2025 Newsletter
Town Budget Process Update
The Town’s budget process begins every September and concludes at the Annual Town Meeting the following May. At that time, Town Meeting (every registered voter who attends will comprise this legislative body) votes on the Town’s budget for the next fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2026 starts on July 1, 2025). The budget must be balanced.
Beginning in October, Town staff begins gathering information to project estimated revenues for the next fiscal year. These early estimates are firmed up as information is gathered from various sources, including the Mass. Dept. of Revenue, and in February, the Governor’s proposed budget gives additional guidance as to what may be provided for local aid and other programs - and the State budget process continues in parallel with the Town’s. On the local level, there are five boards that are directly involved in townwide budget matters: Select Board, School Committee, Capital Improvements Committee, Appropriation Committee, and Community Preservation Committee. During the budget process, their meetings occur, options and proposals are discussed, and decisions are made - some early on, and some later in the process.
The Select Board will meet on March 11 to vote on a balanced budget, and to forward it to the Appropriation Committee. It has been a challenging process this year, chiefly due to a persistent gap between revenues and expenditures. The process has featured a rigorous review of Town department budgets, which have been built from the bottom up, trimming “nice to have” items and weighing wants versus needs. Core services have been preserved, and the result is generally a level services budget.
The persistent gap, sometimes referred to as a structural deficit, is not new to cities and towns. Although it has not been a major issue for a few years in Hopkinton, it is something that the Town has dealt with before - and it had been predicted. Hopkinton’s main revenue source is local tax revenue, and the amount it can be increased from year to year is limited by law and is subject to the vote at Town Meeting. But while revenue increases are limited, the cost of goods, services, and capital projects, for example, are not, hence the gap that must be addressed before a balanced budget can be achieved, and choices made in one year affect the next. One item to consider this year is the importance of having sufficient reserves that can be carried forward to the next fiscal year.
The Appropriation Committee begins its meetings on the budget on March 12. In a series of meetings, the Committee will review each department’s budget, consider the capital plan, review revenue and expenditure forecasts, and vote its recommendations to the Select Board and to Town Meeting. The Committee will hold a public hearing for you to ask questions, offer recommendations and priorities, and voice concerns regarding the budget. It’s important to note that the budget can still be changed - now and at Town Meeting - but it must continue to be balanced.
Budget documents and Annual Town Meeting information will be posted at this link as they are developed: 2025 Annual Town Meeting & FY2026 Budget Documents
Tomorrow we will post the proposed budget that the Select Board will be reviewing at the meeting on March 11.
Select Board members Amy Ritterbusch and Shahidul Mannan at the Winter Farmers Market, for additional budget listening.
Events at the Public Library:
Raising Chickens for Meat: Chicken Keeping 101 - Saturday, March 22
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Have you ever considered raising your own chickens for meat but don't know where to start? Jak, Assistant Library Director and poultry fancier, will take you through the ins and outs of raising chickens (and turkeys) for meat in your backyard, homestead, or small farm. This short program will discuss housing requirements, feed, best breeds, processing, storing, and other "best practices." There will be time questions at the end of the presentation. Although not graphic, there will be a frank discussion of animal slaughter for food, so it is recommended that anyone sensitive to the butchering process not attend this program. Raising meat birds isn't for everyone, and that's okay!
Rough Sleepers: An Evening with Dr. Jim O'Connell - Monday, March 24
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
Rough Sleepers, a New York Times bestseller by Tracy Kidder, is the powerful story of an inspiring doctor who made a difference, by helping to create a program to care for Boston’s homeless community. In 1985, Dr. O'Connell began full time clinical work with homeless individuals as the founding physician of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which now serves over 13,000 homeless persons each year in two hospital-based clinics (Boston Medical Center and MGH) and in more than 60 shelters and outreach sites in Boston. With his colleagues, Dr. O’Connell established the nation’s first medical respite program for homeless persons in September, 1985, with 25 beds in the Lemuel Shattuck Shelter. This innovative program now provides acute and sub-acute, pre- and post-operative, and palliative and end-of-life care in the freestanding 104-bed Barbara McInnis House. Working with the MGH Laboratory of Computer Science, Dr. O’Connell designed and implemented the nation’s first computerized medical record for a homeless program in 1995.
Town Meeting: What it is and How to Participate - Tuesday, March 25
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
New England's municipal government structure is unique and highly participatory. One of the most important nights of the year is Town Meeting. However, if you're not familiar with the structure and rules of Town Meeting, attending and participating can be downright confusing. Join the library for a panel discussion featuring Town Manager Elaine Lazarus, Town Clerk Connor Degan, and Chief Financial Officer Kyla LaPierre to find out how Town Meeting is structured, how to participate, and why going to Town Meeting is important.
Save the Date! March 29 - Family Fling on the Town Common and Ribbon Cutting at the new Hank Fredette Skatepark at EMC Park
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