Articles Items of business to be voted on at Town Meeting. The warrant for the Annual Town Meeting May 2 contains 30 articles.
Available funds Money that’s on hand in an account to meet unforeseen expenses or other one-time costs. Examples of available funds include free cash, the Reserve Fund, and the Stabilization Fund.
Base-level budget A budget that requires no Proposition 2½ override to fund it. While this option is often viewed as the ideal target, it does not represent a level-service budget. In an ideal scenario, the cost of providing services would increase at the same pace as municipal revenues; however, this is rarely the case.
Betterment A charge assessed to property owners who benefit from public improvements.
Capital project Capital projects, including land purchases, cost $20,000 or more and have a useful life of at least five years. Each year the Capital Planning and Investment Committee reviews and rates requests for such projects and draws up a list of those it recommends be funded. The budget includes the estimated cost of each project and how it will be paid for.
Chapter 70 The state school funding program that provides aid for schools and establishes minimum spending requirements for school districts and municipalities.
Chapter 90 The state program that provides funding to cities and towns for road improvements.
Citizen petition Individual voters can add their own agenda items to a Town Meeting warrant through the statutory device called a citizen petition. A minimum of 10 registered voters must sign the petition, and have their signatures certified by the town clerk, to insert the article in the warrant. For a Special Town Meeting, 100 certified signatures are required.
Code of Harvard The code of the town of Harvard consists of the rules by which Harvard governs itself as allowed by Town Meeting and the state Legislature. The code includes the Harvard Town Charter; general and protective (zoning) bylaws; and regulations pertaining to the code.
CPA fund The Community Preservation Act, adopted by Harvard in 2001, allows the town to levy a real estate surtax of up to 3% on Harvard properties, with the possibility of matching funds provided by the state. Harvard voted in 2001 to levy a 1.1% surtax. Voters at the Feb. 13, 2023, Special Town Meeting approved increasing Harvard’s surtax to 3%, which was approved by a majority vote at Town Election in May to take effect in fiscal 2024. The fund can be spent on open space preservation, preservation of historical resources, development of affordable housing, or the acquisition and development of outdoor recreational facilities. A minimum of 10% of the annual fund income must go toward each of the following: open space, historical preservation, and affordable housing.
Debt Service Annual repayment of principal and interest on bonds.
Enterprise Fund A fund that is self-supporting. The town uses this fund to provide certain goods and services to residents for a fee. The revenue that the town makes from selling these services is added back into the fund. Two examples: the Town Sewer Enterprise Fund and the Ambulance Enterprise Fund.
Excluded debt Excluded debt is debt that is exempt from the levy limitations of Proposition 2½. It allows the town to borrow money for a specific purpose and raise taxes to pay principal and interest on the loan. Excluded debt requires both a two-thirds vote at a town meeting and a majority vote at an election.
Fiscal year Fiscal 2027 begins July 1, 2026, and ends June 30, 2027.
Form-based code A land development regulation, or bylaw, that is meant to be less confusing and less wordy than the traditional bylaw used in most Massachusetts communities. In addition to written explanation, this code relies on drawings, photos, tables of information, and other visuals to explain what can be built and how it should look.
Free cash Funds remaining from line items in Harvard’s previous year’s budget, plus revenue received in excess of budget, less any unpaid back taxes, and reduced by any fund deficits. These funds are certified each year by the state Department of Revenue and are then available to the town. If the money is not appropriated by June 30, it ceases to be available for use by the town until the next round of certification the following fiscal year.
General Fund This account is used by the town for money received and spent, including federal and state reimbursements and local property taxes and fees. Money in the General Fund may be appropriated only by a majority vote of Town Meeting.
Harvard Charter Adopted in 2018, Harvard’s town charter codifies the roles and responsibilities of town officials and governing bodies. The charter establishes a quorum for Town Meeting as 50 voters.
Home-rule petition A request from a town or city for a new type of power from the Massachusetts Legislature—such as the right to issue an additional liquor license. If a home-rule petition is passed at Town Meeting, it is sent to state representatives and senators to be passed by the Legislature, aka the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Level-funded budget A budget that provides each department the same funding as it had in the previous fiscal year. Level-funded budgets typically result in reduced services.
Level-service budget A budget that provides sufficient funding to maintain services at the same level from one year to the next.
Levy The amount of money that Harvard can raise through real estate and personal property taxes in any given fiscal year.
Local aid/cherry sheet The notice from the state detailing the share of state aid that the town will receive in the next fiscal year, as well as state assessments the town will be charged for.
Local receipts Income derived by the town from motor vehicle excise taxes, Transfer Station fees, licenses and permits, penalties and interest on taxes, and so on.
New growth The additional tax revenue generated by new construction, renovations, and other increases in the property tax base during a calendar year. It does not include value increases caused by normal market forces or by revaluations. The amount is added to the levy limit in addition to the 2.5% increase allowed under Proposition 2½.
Omnibus budget For convenience, all recommended appropriations for operating expenses of Harvard’s various town departments are gathered in one multipage article for consideration at Annual Town Meeting. The period covered by the omnibus budget is the upcoming fiscal year
Override A vote by the town to increase the levy limit allowed under Proposition 2½. Such an increase requires a majority vote at both a town meeting and an election.
Proposition 2½ Since 1980, towns have been limited by Proposition 2½ in the amount of property tax they can levy without an override vote. This limitation requires an increase in the property tax to be held to no more than 2.5% of the previous year’s tax levy plus the value of taxable property added by new construction (new growth).
Protective bylaw Part of the Code of Harvard, zoning bylaws enacted by Town Meeting—in accordance with state law—to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Harvard citizens.
Reserve Fund An annual fund to cover extraordinary or unforeseen expenses during each fiscal year. Any department needing to spend more than its budget on a particular line item must ask the Finance Committee to make a transfer from the Reserve Fund. Sums not transferred by June 30 revert to the town’s overlay reserve, which is used to cover property tax abatements, exemptions, and uncollected taxes. Typical requests include the extra cost of snow removal in a hard winter or unexpected spending for special education students.
Revolving Fund A fund for a specific project or service from which the town can continue to expend money for that project or service. As revenues are raised by doing so, money goes back into the fund.
Special permit A permit for a use that is allowed, but only if certain conditions are met. Hearings for projects requiring special permits are usually more involved than those for by-right uses because of the extra scrutiny needed to determine whether conditions are met.
Stabilization Fund A permanent fund used to smooth out unexpected increases in budgeted expenses or to pay for capital projects. Harvard has two such funds: One is the Stabilization Fund, also known as the General Stabilization Fund, which covers unexpected increases in the town budget, and the second is the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund for capital projects. A two-thirds vote at Town Meeting is required to appropriate money from these funds.
Town center overlay district A proposed zoning district consisting of 87 lots in the heart of Harvard that would make it easier for property owners there to renovate, expand, and change the use of their properties. The center’s current agricultural-residential zoning is tailored to 1½-acre lots rather than to the smaller lots of town center.
Town Meeting Harvard’s legislature, the meeting at which registered voters conduct the business of governing Harvard, including making laws and expending money. Special Town Meetings are scheduled by town officials as necessary.
Transfers Money appropriated for use in a line item of Harvard’s omnibus budget and later proposed to be moved to another line item or to be expended for another purpose. It is also the money from any designated fund proposed for use in a warrant article. A transfer must be approved by a majority vote of Town Meeting.
Warrant The list of articles, compiled by the Select Board, that makes up the agenda of items to be voted on at a Town Meeting. The Select Board decides which articles are in the warrant. Some articles are added at the request of a town official or board, as noted in the Warrant in Plain English.