Weston Town Crier, April 22, 2021
The following was submitted by John Sallay

Over the last several weeks, you may have seen articles outlining the financial and governance challenges now facing Weston. If not, or if you missed a few, they are all posted on FocusOnWeston.org. The intent has been to clearly communicate the economic implications of proposed budgets, initiatives, and major capital projects. In addition to summarizing the issues and providing fact-based analysis, these articles have also encouraged all residents to participate in the upcoming town elections and annual town meeting.

Why Attend Town Meeting
On average, only about 12% of Weston registered voters participate in town elections and only a few hundred (3-4%) attend town meetings. Yet, our elected town leaders drive town priorities and policies, and at our town meeting we collectively vote on our property taxes, major projects, and zoning and other bylaws.

Town meeting this year is on Saturday May 15, at 2 p.m. on the Weston High School field. This article summarizes the key items to be voted, in the hope of persuading you to attend. General information on our town meeting and its procedures is available on the town website, Weston.org. The long legal document that constitutes the agenda for the meeting, called the Warrant, will be mailed to all residents and is also available online.

Town Budget = Your Taxes
Each item of business at town meeting is called an “article”. Article 1 is actually the town election, which will be held the week before, on Saturday May 8, or by mail-in ballot available on the town website. Article 2 is the annual town budget, which will be covered in a separate Town Crier article in the next week or two. Because the town and school budgets are funded almost entirely by property taxes, the accelerating growth of these budgets translates to accelerating growth in your property taxes. This vote on Article 2 is your opportunity to either accept these continued increases, or send them back for revision. Weston voters have historically rubber stamped the proposed budget, but that is not always the case in other towns.

Less Important: Consent Agenda
Several of the legally required but less controversial articles are rolled into a so-called consent agenda. If there is no objection to this roll-up, or desire for debate, the consent agenda items are handled in a single procedural vote. This treatment is proposed for Articles 3 through 21, and mostly makes sense, as these include items like accepting funds from the state, roof repairs at the High School, and replacing a 20-year-old fire truck.

One article that may justify removal from the consent agenda is Article 9 for the Recreation Department budget. Historically, property taxes have covered 30% of the recreation budget, with the balance covered by revenues from pool passes, summer camp fees, etc. The pandemic forced many of these activities to be cut back last year. There is still uncertainty as to how activities will be impacted this year and their corresponding revenues. Rather than reducing costs, the Recreation Department is asking that the revenue shortfall be covered by a property tax increase.

Important: Articles Opposed by Fincom
Prior to each town meeting, the Weston Finance Committee plays an advisory role by voting to support, oppose, or take no position on each article. This year, the Fincom voted to support 17 of the 19 consent agenda articles and take no position on two, including the proposed increase in the recreation subsidy. They also voted not to take a position on the zoning bylaw amendments and citizen petition discussed below.

The Finance Committee did vote, however, to oppose three articles, two unanimously. Article 22 proposes $80,000 to fund a feasibility study for new and enhanced recreational facilities at the High School/Middle School. Such a study will most likely result in plans for more school athletic facilities, on top of the $5 million we recently spent to renovate the football field and track. With Weston’s academic performance metrics unexceptional relative to comparable communities, despite per pupil expenditures 26% higher than these towns, some consider this proposal a misalignment of priorities.

Article 23 is a proposal to give $1 million of taxpayer funds to the private non-profit Weston Affordable Housing Foundation, for the construction of two affordable housing units on land donated to them on Birch Lane. The town needs approximately 275 additional affordable housing units to meet 40B safe harbor requirements, so two units are immaterial in this regard. And with three large, highly contested 40B proposals (e.g., the Weston Whopper) adding up to 530 new affordable housing units in the next few years, the Finance Committee unanimously opposed this proposal.

Article 24 proposes spending $400,000 for walkways on Ash Street, which the Fincom also opposed unanimously because they did not believe it was a prudent use of $400,000.

Important: Two Land Use Issues
Eleven pages of the Warrant deal with two land use issues. First, Articles 27-29 represent an important but largely uncontroversial set of small border adjustments at the Case Estates, which the town purchased about 15 years ago.

Articles 30-33 represent a complex collection of zoning changes to repurpose the old Liberty Mutual office complex on Riverside Road, which was recently purchased by Greatland Realty. Greatland wants to expand their space and enable conversion to life science labs, currently prohibited by Weston zoning. The Select Board hopes to encourage development of up to 50 affordable housing units, as a tacit quid pro quo.

Citizens Petition
Article 34 is a citizens’ petition to establish a town bylaw prohibiting the sale of fur products in Weston.

To summarize, please vote in the May 8 town elections and then also attend this very important May 15 town meeting.