North Reading Select Board Reveals $685,000 Municipal Budget Shortfall for FY2027

NORTH READING — February 9, 2026 — North Reading Select Board flags $685,000 municipal deficit and advances wastewater committee plan. Finance Director Maureen Galvin and Town Administrator Michael Gilberto presented a first-pass fiscal year 2027 revenue and expense plan at the February 9 meeting showing total projected general fund revenue of $88.8 million and a $685,000 shortfall on the municipal side, driven in part by a more than $1 million increase in the sanitation budget tied to a potential shift to automated trash collection by Republic Services and the prospect of higher trash fees for residents. The school department's gap stood at a comparatively tight $120,000, which Gilberto attributed partly to roughly 30 positions cut from school staffing in recent years. Select Board member Rich Wallner proposed a new North Reading Wastewater Exploratory Committee to study large-scale package treatment plants along Main Street and a possible sewer connection through the Town of Andover, framing it as the most viable path to growing the commercial tax base — currently just 12 percent of total assessed value — to close a long-term structural gap between the town's 2.5 percent levy cap and rising costs; a formal vote to constitute the committee is slated for the February 23 meeting.