Weymouth Town Council Opens Hearings on $190 Million FY2023 Budget

WEYMOUTH -- May 16, 2022, Weymouth's Town Council opened public hearings Monday on a $190.3 million FY2023 operating budget and unanimously confirmed a Board of Health appointment. Chief of Staff Ted Langell told the council the proposed annual appropriation of $190,306,660 represents a 3.6 percent increase over the current year, driven largely by $5.3 million in new tax-levy revenue; the school department was fully funded at just over $81 million, a 3.9 percent increase. Mayor Robert Hedlund disclosed a feasibility study, backed by a $350,000 state legislative earmark from Representative Mariano, is underway to evaluate connecting Weymouth to the MWRA water system, with a $40 million connection fee potentially waivable. The council confirmed Gary Peters of 34 Bluff Road to the Board of Health for a three-year term expiring June 30, 2025, filling the vacancy left by Peter Butler's resignation. Four major collective bargaining agreements, covering teachers, police, firefighters, and DPW, remain unsettled, meaning the actual budget increase will exceed the advertised 3.6 percent figure.