Wenham Finance Committee Approves FY26 Budget at $16.16 Tax Rate

WENHAM -- February 26, 2025, Wenham Finance Committee unanimously approves FY26 operating budget at a projected $16.16 tax rate and votes to challenge health insurance costs. Town Accountant Jeff Diver reported that tentative agreements with all three municipal unions came in at or below a cumulative 12 percent increase over three years, leaving the budget roughly $100,000 under the Proposition 2½ levy limit after an earlier $350,000 free cash payment retired outstanding short-term debt. The five-member panel voted 5-0 to request the Select Board seek competing health insurance quotes from brokers including the state's Group Insurance Commission, with one member calling the late-cycle rate increase from current broker MAYA "totally unacceptable" and "outrageous." The capital budget passed without a $50,000 Historic District Commission guidelines study, which members argued was unnecessary given MBTA Communities Act zoning limits on commission authority. A fifth unanimous vote directed a transfer of free cash to stabilization sufficient to bring the free cash balance to 1 percent of the operating budget, leaving flexibility to absorb projected increases in the town's trash collection contract and early-year debt payments if voters approve the $92 million Cutler School Building Project at Annual Town Meeting in April.