Finance Committee recommends $131.8M Sudbury operating budget for FY27

SUDBURY — March 16, 2026 — Sudbury Finance Committee recommends $131.8M town budget and $2.2M DPW floor replacement, defers Stabilization Fund vote. The committee voted 7-1-1 on March 16 to recommend the FY27 operating budget, with member Henry P. Sorett opposed and John K Baranowsky abstaining. Co-Chair Michael Ferrari flagged a 2 percent conditional market adjustment in the SPS educators' contract effective July 1, 2028 that would enlarge any future override. Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran told the committee that test pits at the DPW garage found a six-inch slab where eight inches were specified — "we paid for eight, we got six" — and the panel voted 8-0-1 to recommend the $2.2 million replacement. The committee deferred Article 11's $300,000 Stabilization Fund transfer after member Karl Fries argued that moving free cash into the fund — already at 5.09 percent of operating, above the 5 percent policy minimum — would obscure the town's true free-cash position.