Projected FY27 deficit overshadows ambitions of town committees at revived all-boards meeting

The ambitions of Harvard’s volunteer-driven boards and committees were on full display at last Wednesday’s Oct. 15 all-boards meeting in Volunteers Hall at the library, but overshadowing their goals for the coming fiscal year is a growing deficit that stretches far into the future.

In his opening remarks, Town Administrator Dan Nason told the estimated 35 board chairs and members in attendance that Finance Director Jared Mullane’s latest five-year forecast projected a deficit of $1.3 million for fiscal 2027, with increases continuing “year after year” through fiscal 2030 and beyond. “It’s only a projection,” Nason said, but it was conservative and assumed that important revenue sources, such as state aid and growth in new housing, would remain flat, while costs would continue to rise at unsustainable rates.

“This is nothing new,” Nason told the assembly. “We’re looking for collaboration … and we’re looking for everybody to find ways to address the structural deficit that we all know we have. … It’s not just the Select Board’s problem; it’s everybody’s problem. … It’s the community’s problem.”

The 2027 forecast presented by Nason was $400,000 lower than the $1.7 million deficit estimated by the Finance Department in May. Mullane was not present at the meeting. A Press request for a copy of the latest forecast was denied.

Nason’s five-slide presentation was followed, in alphabetical order, by those of 20 town committee chairs, from the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee through the School Committee and the Water and Sewer Commissions, and including last minute appearances by the Historical Commission, the Finance Committee, and the Energy Advisory Committee. Each committee was limited to a single slide stating its mission, its top three priorities for fiscal 2027, and the financial impact, if any, of its activities.

Most committees, with the exception of the School Committee, operate with a small budget or no budget at all. But their activities can have far-reaching financial consequences for the town. Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Chair Arielle Jennings, for example, said her committee would seek to change its charter to allow the trust to purchase land for future housing projects in town, an authority that was removed a decade ago following a failed attempt to develop affordable housing at the former Poor Farm site.

Likewise, with a newly purchased parcel in hand, the Park and Recreation Commission’s next task will be to plan its development as an athletic field.

Select Board Chair Kara Minar was the last to speak, introducing the board’s newly elected fifth member, Eric Ward, and outlining its goals for the year, which include seeking new sources of revenue.

Absent were presentations by the town departments, whose budget proposals are already in the hands of Nason and Mullane, being readied for submission to the Finance Committee and Select Board on Nov. 7. (See box below.) Departments and committees were asked to prepare two budgets, one that would maintain current levels of service and one limited to the dollars budgeted for fiscal 2026, the current fiscal year, including the impact of such a budget on services and employees

In his presentation, Nason called out major contributors to the deficit. These include, he said, rising health insurance premiums, volatile energy costs, “unfunded mandates” such as special education, and rising labor costs, including increases likely to follow the negotiation of a new teacher contract this year. Revenue, he said, is not keeping up with these increases. State aid to municipalities and schools has remained flat, and new growth—increases in housing and renovations of existing properties—is below average for a town of Harvard’s size. Finding ways to increase new growth, including development of the Ayer Road commercial corridor and the town’s MBTA-compliant multifamily housing site, were priorities, he said. But the town should also consider raising its fees.

Community Preservation Committee Chair Stu Sklar had an additional suggestion. “I really would like the Select Board to assign somebody to be the [town’s] legislative liaison.” He cited a recently published report by the Massachusetts Municipal Association that concluded towns throughout the state are facing deficits because the state has abdicated its responsibility to its citizens. “State aid has gone down for 25 years,” Sklar asserted. The town’s representatives, Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Dan Sena, “should be hearing this all the time. … Harvard’s not unique in having a budget deficit. Every town in the state, rich or poor, does.”

All-boards meetings are not required by the Harvard Charter, but before the pandemic they were a town tradition. Last Wednesday’s meeting was the first since 2020, held in person and streamed to remote listeners.

For further information

A recording of the meeting is available at the Harvard Media Cooperative website, https://theharvardmediacooperative.com/

The all-boards meeting agenda and slides can be found at https://www.harvard-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10152025-1059.