Wayland Patch 10/12/11: Special Town Meeting Scheduled; State of the Town Postponed. Wayland residents will have a chance to reexamine the FY12 budget during a special town meeting on Nov. 17 at Wayland Middle School. Monday night, the Board of Selectmen officially set the date for the special town meeting called by a petition submitted last Friday that included 397 validated signatures from residents. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm, in the gymnasium at Wayland Middle School. The warrant for the special town meeting will include at least the two articles submitted as part of the petition to call the meeting as well as an article submitted by the Board of Selectmen proposing residents approve option C of four options vetted by the Finance Committee. After reaching conclusions regarding the upcoming Special Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Tom Fay proposed postponing the State of the Town meeting scheduled for Nov. 19 in light of the now scheduled Special Town Meeting.

Wayland Town Crier 10/12/11: Wayland calls Special Town Meeting of Nov. 17, disposition of free cash at issue. Selectmen last night voted to call a special Town Meeting on Nov. 17 responding to a petition from a group of residents who want to tap into the town's hefty free cash account to lower their tax bills. The residents hope to apply a surplus of free cash to the town's previously approved fiscal 2012 budget. The petition for a special Town Meeting did not specify the amount of free cash to be applied, which has town officials worried. The amount of free cash certified at this year's annual Town Meeting was $8.5 million, or 13.2 percent of the total budget. Due to unanticipated revenues, that amount has grown to $10.3 million, or 14.9 percent. A resident at last week's selectmen's meeting suggested returning $5 million in free cash to taxpayers in the form of lower fiscal 2012 tax bills.