Ayer Finance Committee Recommends All 25 Town Meeting Warrant Articles Unanimously

AYER -- April 2, 2026, Ayer Finance Committee unanimously recommended all 25 financial warrant articles for the April 27 Annual Town Meeting. The five-member panel voted 5-0 on each article at its April 2 session, including a fiscal year 2027 omnibus budget reflecting a $695,671 increase, or 3.47 percent, over the prior year, within the committee's stated target of no more than 5 percent. Town Manager Robert Pontbriand told the committee a last-minute reserve fund increase to $175,000, up from $165,000, was driven by fuel and energy market volatility. The committee also recommended a $425,000 transfer from the town's PFAS settlement fund, currently holding just over $1.8 million, for water treatment media replacement at Spectacle Pond and Grove Pond, with members noting the fund will not last indefinitely. Resident Pauline Conley challenged the committee during public comment, arguing that a $500,000 UDAG fund replenishment tied to the senior center project amounts to tax-dollar funding contrary to prior representations, a concern one Finance Committee member said he shared and had raised at previous town meetings.