Finance Committee flags $157,300 truck request, school budget growth for further review

Finance Committee · Meeting of January 27, 2026

Westport Finance Committee reviewed a strained Highway Department budget and a 5 percent school budget increase at its January 27 meeting. Finance Committee member Gary Carrero presented the Highway Department's fiscal year 2027 budget on behalf of Highway Surveyor Chris, urging the panel to revisit a $157,300 dump truck and plow request that the Capital Improvement Planning Committee had declined to fund, arguing the department's fleet of 1970s and 1980s vehicles is inadequate for a town with 260 miles of roads and only eight full-time employees. Town Administrator Chris Thrasher confirmed the department has active vacancies and noted that a previously planned town engineer line is being redirected to other staffing needs, with warrant articles going before the Select Board on February 9.

Finance Committee member Duncan Law reported that the School Committee has approved a fiscal year 2027 budget of $24,923,543, up from $23,734,943 in fiscal year 2026, with Thrasher cautioning that the prior year's figure included a free cash allocation, making the true operational increase larger than the headline 5 percent. Members Hugh Morton and Al Lees warned that the town's structural reliance on one-time free cash to support the school budget is unsustainable, with Lees noting the town's failed override attempt and Morton pressing the committee to confront the finite revenue available across all departments.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of January 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.