Wayland FinCom backs operating budget, rejects $12.3M capital plan

WAYLAND — March 9, 2026 — Wayland Finance Committee backs $113M operating budget but rejects town manager's $12.3M capital plan. The committee voted 5-1 to recommend a $112,964,253 fiscal 2027 operating budget — a 4.63 percent increase tied to a projected 4.89 percent tax-bill bump — and 5-1 against the capital plan, signaling roughly $3 million in cuts before Town Meeting. Members want a school baseball field returned to fiscal 2029, roughly $400,000 trimmed from roads to match the Capital Improvement Planning Committee's recommendation, and nearly $900,000 in sidewalk spending reconsidered against deferred middle-school HVAC. The dissenter on operating said the tax figure understates the total burden, calling layoffs-or-vote a "hammer" rather than a real lever. Earlier, the committee unanimously approved a $130,144 reserve-fund transfer for vocational tuition and transportation for five residents attending Minuteman and Keefe. Out-of-district private special-education tuition jumps from $1.2 million to $4.2 million.