[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6360805,"mediaKeyId","2172742-6e6af46504889732bb993cd7c07602d4","parentId",2172742,"title","Norwood schools propose 8.1% FY26 operating increase, add 11.6 FTEs to open new middle school","audioSeconds",159,"startMs",3038255,"endMs",3197375,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2172742-6e6af46504889732bb993cd7c07602d4&start=3038&end=3197","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2172742-6e6af46504889732bb993cd7c07602d4/thumbnail_3038255.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6360805/Town-of-Norwood/Norfolk-County/Massachusetts/Norwood-schools-propose-81-FY26-operating-increase-add-116-FTEs-to-open-new-middle-school","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360805-8a870847b6022dd4b2e547e7ed2098b2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771206242&Signature=RWJgelpP86KB0AJUPVfPgccmytmBI0J6amaBVB~szR1xWWD4UBxc0xABKkBk2T~-MuoJZ41nbLIIjFRSAUV66RCcZrEwRS9snGIwDptEKmOYp6NPKJBqM8vB5lw0A1WrneieYPT6bJN~--dqDsMW-RGVKN-8fLGslrQCYIPU1INe6DKPsGP-rSU~odPISjseLH5-rA-BGuyUwQvnnNK-ZbcX0RKjrpz5t8XFjLRsJJ0wEcix69zV32Odw-UyGrh7MYU4UtGv2w19Q-qWnJEBSbeAkB3ZgyFosPpeMckXI7bhf01O6iwHTOta6Jf1o284gWc2Dyzqth9C96OgOafqaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town of Norwood, MA","date","2025-01-25T00:00:00Z","article","Norwood Public Schools presented a preliminary FY26 operating budget that would increase operating spending by 8.1 percent versus FY25 and add 11.6 full‑time equivalent positions, school officials said during the Town-wide Budget Balancing Committee meeting.

Superintendent Tim (identified in the meeting as a school official) and Sean (school finance staff) described the request as focused on two objectives: resourcing the opening of the new middle school (referred to during the meeting as Cokely/Cokely middle school in the draft materials) and addressing recurring cost drivers such as collective bargaining steps and columns, cost-of-living increases, and anticipated transportation contract changes.

Key details presented by school staff: an 11.6 FTE net increase that raises overall district FTEs from about 573 to about 585 in the operating budget; 9.6 of those FTEs are directly tied to the new middle-school opening; and roughly 3.8 percentage points of the total 8.1 percent increase come from contractual salary drivers (steps, columns and COLA). The district also noted transportation as a near-term cost pressure: the district will bid its yellow-bus contract and plans to add two additional bus slots for the middle school. School staff told the committee that a tight labor market for drivers and monitors has raised in‑house transportation costs and that the first year of a new contract can show a material jump.

School officials said they have identified some offsets in other cost areas and reported that out-of-district tuitions and special-education costs are not rising dramatically in their current projection. Sean said the 8.1 percent figure is preliminary and that school leaders continue to review the budget and examine options to pare back nonessential increases while preserving services.

The district and the committee also discussed revenue-side options tied to school services. School and town staff described ongoing work to increase Medicaid (MassHealth) billing for reimbursable services delivered by district staff. The district currently accounts for roughly $350,000 in Medicaid reimbursements; officials said they are exploring a seed or transition funding approach (potentially a one-time free‑cash warrant article) to hire or reassign staff who would increase billing capacity so the program could cover its ongoing costs in later years.

Committee members asked for more detail on school staffing requests, and multiple members emphasized the need for the Fincom and the BBC to review and “trust but verify” all assumptions before recommending use of free cash for recurring operating costs. The committee also requested the district provide a line‑by‑line review in a future session so Fincom can evaluate whether particular increases are one-time startup costs, recurring service needs, or areas for further efficiency work.

No formal decisions were made. School staff and town finance staff agreed to provide updated figures — including final health‑insurance and pension numbers when available, and a more detailed list of the new school positions and associated costs — before the committee takes a recommendation to town meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Town of Norwood: Budget Balancing Committee 1.23.25","oneSentenceSummary","Norwood Public Schools proposed an FY26 operating budget that would rise 8.1 percent and add about 11.6 FTEs, largely to staff a new middle school and to cover contractual salary drivers and transportation pressures.","taxTitle","Town of Norwood, Norfolk County, Massachusetts","taxId",52806,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6360810,"Norwood faces roughly $8.4 million FY26 structural gap; officials weigh free cash, cuts and override",5490,26305,5517280,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2172742-6e6af46504889732bb993cd7c07602d4&start=26&end=5517","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2172742-6e6af46504889732bb993cd7c07602d4/thumbnail_26305.jpg","/articles/6360810/Town-of-Norwood/Norfolk-County/Massachusetts/Norwood-faces-roughly-84-million-FY26-structural-gap-officials-weigh-free-cash-cuts-and-override","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360810-eb382ae222402297aab3e1a486a6253d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771206242&Signature=EJPXjprf9Bz7zPtdGwspgJ2Gc18CiDwFmM02JWmJi8x5~bJYECk-Ow~l4XzKSvIp1gHXgml1Fc0G8yobPRvAbq02jRIAeKczDz3aWV30rhMS5hPO5TSlzfV5yUix85iGXITL~qiGFsP8-hsmCRAbZua7dmBgrZYxYfHsad~39FM5CrEC92uKIz8NDQ8u2w~aFW2ulJD~r0P8Z6J3C80bEXX8rMKoaOTZIcQSLVR48iDNz5Tl3c0Ov2KNR89LcDOK5N-cAty2zwYHbErB5UwPI5J33EsdTUJTn-IR4vkJ-YzXO~g2mEtyC39o~xZ4DH~yjZYnJegq-gJ1UllSzCIWqA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Jeff, a town finance staff member, led the Town-wide Budget Balancing Committee through preliminary figures for fiscal 2026, saying the town faces what he described as an $8.4 million structural deficit if current department and school requests stand.

The deficit reflects a mix of revenue and cost changes: modest projected revenue growth after property tax levy limits, the governor’s early “cherry sheet” that increased some state aid line items, and substantially higher shared costs such as health insurance and retirement contributions. Jeff said the town’s total revenue is up roughly 1 percent under the current assumptions, but shared costs alone consume most or all of that increase.

Why it matters: Committee members said the numbers, if unchanged, will push leaders to use significant one-time reserves or seek a voter override. Several members emphasized the town’s obligation to follow its financial policies, which generally advise against using one-time funds to support ongoing operating costs.

Jeff said the town started the budget process with $20,652,677 in free cash available after last fall’s town meeting and that preliminary new-growth estimates for FY25 came in at about $1,008,518; he said the working assumption for FY26 new growth in the model is $900,000. Jeff also presented an updated cherry-sheet estimate from the governor’s proposal that increases net state aid to Norwood by about $1,075,544 in the current draft (with town assessments rising approximately $387,000 under that proposal).

Officials discussed the main revenue and cost drivers. On revenues, Jeff described the conservative methodology used for many local receipt lines (for example, using a 90 percent three-year-average baseline for categories that can be volatile). He noted that meals and room occupancy receipts have trended higher and that investment income assumptions rely on roughly $50 million on average in the town’s accounts at a projected interest rate of about 3 percent.

On the expense side, committee members and staff focused on shared costs that are largely nondiscretionary, such as health insurance (Jeff used an 8 percent placeholder pending final GIC rates), retirement/pension contributions (pending final actuarial numbers), and debt service trends. Jeff said the town is projecting a 5.74 percent increase for town operations and an 8.11 percent increase for the schools under the preliminary requests; combined, those levels produce the roughly $8.4 million gap.

Fincom and other committee members pressed for more detail on several items before recommending the use of free cash. Committee members repeatedly cautioned that using one-time reserves to balance recurring operating costs would worsen the town’s long-term fiscal position and could make a future override harder to justify to voters.

Several participants pointed to a major local construction project — FM Global — as a near-term source of new growth that will begin to appear fully in the property tax base after the next June 30 valuation and could add roughly $1 million to $2 million in new growth in subsequent years. Staff and members agreed not to count speculative growth in the FY26 baseline beyond the conservative $900,000 assumption.

Committee members requested additional detail before making recommendations: a side-by-side of FY24 budgeted vs. FY24 actual receipts for lines where staff used historical averages; final GIC health insurance rates (expected from the GIC in early February); and finalized pension contribution numbers from the actuary. The group tentatively scheduled a follow-up meeting in early February to review updated health insurance/pension numbers and an updated shared-costs run.

The meeting closed with a routine motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote.","Jeff, a town finance staff member, led the Town-wide Budget Balancing Committee through preliminary FY26 figures showing an $8.4 million structural gap driven by rising shared costs and school budget increases.","actionData","errors"]

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Norwood schools propose 8.1% FY26 operating increase, add 11.6 FTEs to open new middle school

Norwood faces roughly $8.4 million FY26 structural gap; officials weigh free cash, cuts and override