Westborough Finance Committee Approves Five End-of-Year Transfers Totaling $130,000

WESTBOROUGH -- June 22, 2026, Westborough's Advisory Finance Committee closed fiscal year 2026 with five unanimous inter-departmental transfers totaling $130,000 at its June 22 meeting. The largest, a $89,000 transfer drawn from salary-and-wages surpluses in the Board of Health, Community Development, Library, and Town Manager's offices, covered an unusual spike in unemployment insurance billings under the town's reimbursable model, in which the state invoices the town dollar-for-dollar for benefits paid to former employees. Human Resources Director Kim Foster attributed the overage to position reductions from last year's budget, turnover, and a late-spring resurgence in claims. Police Chief Todd Manowdy requested a $15,000 transfer from library salary-and-wages, freed up because a janitorial position became redundant at the new library building, to cover academy training costs and a promotional exam, noting that patrolmen's collective bargaining settlement consumed all police salary-and-wages savings. Two $10,000 transfers from Finance salary-and-wages addressed a first-phase commercial property appraisal before the Appellate Tax Board and higher-than-expected town counsel billings. A $6,000 transfer covered emergency hotel housing provided to three homeless Westborough veterans under Chapter 115, the first such expenditure in the district's history, with Foster confirming all three individuals have since been placed in stable housing and the costs are reimbursable by the state at 100 percent.