The School Committee plans to hold a special meeting with the Finance Committee on Monday, October 15th, at 7pm at the Town Building to further discuss the FY14 Operating Budget Guidelines.  The Finance Committee has asked all Town Departments, including the School Department, to submit two operating budgets:

• One with level services (after being adjusted for steps and lanes, settled contracts and utility changes) and
• One with a reduction of approximately 10% to help mitigate the potential impact for residents."

Wayland Patch 3/31/12: Wayland FinCom Cuts Proposed Operating Budget. The Wayland Finance Committee voted Wednesday night to adjust the operating budget proposed in the 2012 Annual Town Meeting Warrant. During a meeting that adjourned just after midnight, the committee voted to cut about $2.3 million from the proposed Fiscal 2013 operating budget. The committee made cuts to the pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) payments, the biggest part of which goes to retiree healthcare benefits.

Wayland Town Crier 3/14/12: Wayland school officials say initiatives in budget help students. One parent at the school budget hearing in Wayland Monday night thanked the School Committee for a budget that includes providing a laptop for every high school student, adding Chinese language instruction and beefing up math coaching and health and wellness electives. The schools are seeking $32.5 million from taxpayers for the 2012-13 school year, which represents a 2.35 percent increase over the current school year. The total school budget is $33.9 million, and the difference will be offset by fees and other revenue.

Wayland Patch 1/24/12: Budget Prep, Water Enterprise Fund Discussed at Warrant Hearing. Representatives of town boards and committees, lead petitioners and even a few representatives of lead petitioners took to the podium Monday night for the Wayland Finance Committee’s 2012 Annual Town Meeting Warrant hearing. The hearing, held in the Large Hearing Room at Wayland Town Building, was intended to allow members of the Finance Committee and residents to learn more and ask questions about the articles, and was not designed as a time to debate the actual merits of each article.

&nbsp

Wayland Town Crier 1/24/12: Petitioners want to change budget process. Residents seeking lower taxes and more oversight of the budget proposed a number of annual Town Meeting articles during last night’s warrant hearing. The articles follow the fall special Town Meeting when voters reduced taxes for the current fiscal year by $4 million. Now some residents are taking aim at the way the town prepares its operating budget.

Wayland Town Crier 1/10/12: Superintendent: Wayland school’s 2013 budget not extravagant. Superintendent Paul Stein said transparency and creativity have been goals while preparing his first budget since coming to Wayland in July. “I hope to bring to the budget both of these things,” Stein told those attending during last night’s budget forum. The proposed $32.5 million budget for fiscal 2013 is $747,337, or 2.35 percent, more than this year, in accordance with Finance Committee guidelines.

Wayland Patch 11/17/11: Wayland Voters Approve $4 Million Tax Reduction. Just over 800 Wayland voters — 818 to be exact — Thursday night approved taking $4 million from free cash to fund the FY12 budget, thereby reducing the amount to be raised by taxes by the same amount. The motion for Article 3, which was a petitioner-sponsored article, called for an additional $4 million to be taken from Wayland's free cash account in order to reduce the surplus and provide tax relief. After two amendments to Article 3 failed — one changing the amount to $2.25 million and the other changing the amount to $3.3 million — voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of the article that, in its early form, was one of two articles that led to a Special Town Meeting in the first place.

Wayland Town Crier 11/18/11: Wayland special TM passes tax relief plan. Proponents of lower taxes spoke loud and clear last night, delivering an historic measure of relief in a town with one of the highest tax rates in the state. Voters approved Article 3, which will apply $4 million in free cash to the already-approved fiscal 2012 budget. That step reduces the portion of the budget to be raised by taxation. The owners of a home assessed at $592,285, which is Wayland’s average, will see their tax bill fall by $1,000. 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. Because of unanticipated revenue, that amount has grown to $10.3 million, or 14.9 percent.

Wayland Town Crier 11/15/11: Petitioners confirm seeking $4 million from free cash at TM. A standoff between town officials and petitioners of a tax relief article was broken just hours after the conclusion of a special Town Meeting warrant hearing on Monday when proponents finally specified the amount of free cash they are seeking. “The motion on the floor will be made to fund the fiscal 2012 budget using $4 million from free cash,” wrote Donna Bouchard, one of four lead petitioners, in an email. Town officials have asked for the amount under Article 3 since early October. Special Town Meeting takes place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Wayland Middle School. Doors open at 6 p.m. and residents are encouraged to park at the Town Building and take a shuttle to the school where parking is limited.