Finance Committee finalizes FY24 budget pressures letter to cost centers

SUDBURY — November 7, 2022 — Sudbury Finance Committee locks in FY24 budget pressures letter ahead of December hearings. Co-Chair Michael Joachim walked the panel through a redlined draft on Nov. 7, trimming a steps-and-lanes salary chart and adding a question on approved-but-unbonded capital projects given rising interest rates. Co-Chair Eric Poch said the change targets "timing for debt issuance" baked into future budgets. Member Henry Sorett pressed unsuccessfully for a full town payroll run covering Sudbury's roughly 181 employees, calling it essential to "rational decisions about budget." Members flagged the state's new 14 percent inflation factor on out-of-district special education tuition as a roughly $1 million hit to Lincoln-Sudbury next year — about three-quarters of the district's annual circuit-breaker reimbursement. Sudbury's FY23 operating budget totals $110.3 million, with L-S at $27.9 million and SPS at roughly $50 million including benefits. Minutes from Oct. 3 and Oct. 17 were approved unanimously.