Wayland Select Board Weighs FY2028 Override to Cover $2.5 Million Budget Gap

WAYLAND — June 15, 2026 — Wayland Select Board opens formal discussion of a potential Fiscal Year 2028 operating override to close a projected $2.5 million to $3 million budget gap. Finance Director Brian Keveny told the board Monday that level-service spending in FY2028 will require either an override of that magnitude or proportional cuts distributed across town departments and the schools, driven primarily by health insurance costs projected to rise roughly 15 percent and debt service expected to climb 6 to 9 percent. Town Manager Michael McCall said 111 Massachusetts municipalities have held override votes in the past two fiscal years. The board discussed three ballot timing options — a November 2026 general election, a winter 2027 special election, or the spring 2027 town election — with the winter window emerging as the most viable. Finance Committee member Carl Barnes urged the board not to commit to a timeline before deciding whether an override is needed at all, asking for "good communication, good shared information" among the Finance Committee, town manager, and finance director. Keveny also told the board that Wayland faces a $58 million Middlesex County Retirement System assessment over the next decade. The board appointed Clovis Schaff to fill a vacancy on the Board of Assessors through the 2027 Annual Town Meeting in a unanimous joint vote with the assessors, and approved seven committee appointments including Maryam Libdi as a voting member of the Human Rights, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Wayland has not held an override vote since approximately 2009.