Weymouth Council Refers $201 Million FY2024 Budget Package to Committee

WEYMOUTH -- April 24, 2023, Weymouth Town Council receives its first $201 million budget proposal and creates an opioid settlement reserve fund. Mayor Robert Hedlund and Chief of Staff Ted Langell presented the fiscal year 2024 operating budget of $196.8 million Monday, a 3.4 percent increase, with the Chapman School debt exclusion of $4.5 million pushing the total past $200 million for the first time in town history; the council referred all 36 associated measures to the Budget Management Committee, with hearings beginning May 8 and the annual town meeting set for May 15. Schools are funded at $84.3 million, up $3.1 million, and a proposed 4.5 percent water and sewer rate increase reflects surging chemical and electricity costs. The council also unanimously approved creating a special-purpose stabilization fund to hold $250,122.63 already received, and an estimated $1.2 million total through 2038, from statewide opioid lawsuits, and separately approved an $820,000 transfer to cover fire department overtime tied to the 2021 reopening of Station 2. A five-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with Calpine, still awaiting signatures, is expected to deliver roughly $26 million to the town over its term.