Select Board: Continues FY26 Budget Presentations

Accounting/Procurement & Grants, Public Library, Youth & Family Services, and Senior Services — presented their Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposals to the Select Board at the Feb. 18 meeting.

These presentations followed four others at the previous Select Board meeting on Feb. 5.

During public forum, residents spoke to support the budgets for the Public Library and Senior Services departments and provided testimonials for the services they provide.

Library Director Nanci Hill presented a proposed FY26 budget of $1,049,586.73, which is a 5.8% increase from FY25, and had no Capital requests. Hill said the proposed budget is “level serviced.” The Hopkinton Public Library (HPL) budget accounts for .83% of the town’s operating budget with 92% of their budgets going toward staffing costs, said Hill. 

Due to State requirements and Hopkinton’s population size, the library is required to spend at least 15% of its budget on materials to remain certified, said Hill. The town funds less than one-third of the library’s materials budget, with the rest coming from other sources. 

Hill said certification allows for Hopkinton’s residents to access Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing (CWMARS), a consortium of libraries that gives users access to 7.6 million items, provides access to databases, and allows the library to receive discounts for databases and software. The library included the $24,000 CMWARS membership fee on the FY26 proposed budget.

The increases from the library’s FY25 to FY26 budgets are due to the CWMARS membership fee and a 4% staffing budget increase to account for cost of living increases, Hill said. Hill provided data of the services the library provides the town and added the library responded to the residents’ request to open on Sunday without any additional staffing.

Select Board member Amy Ritterbusch asked if fundraisers from the Friends of the Hopkinton Public Library and the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation help fund the library.

Hill clarified that the two nonprofit organizations primarily fund programming that is not funded by the town. During public forum, prior to the budget presentations, HPL Board of Trustees Vice Chair Warren Carter spoke to support the library’s budget proposal. He provided a valuation of the library’s services at an estimated $23 million per year and referred to the budget proposal as a “no brainer.” 

Linda Clancy, a member of the Friends of the Hopkinton Public Library, furthered the support for the budget. She referred to the library as one of the town’s “gems” and provided her own testimonial about how she used the library’s services when she went back to school. 

“The library is also the only place in town that from zero to the end of your life you can participate,” said Clancy.

Senior Services Director Amy Beck presented a proposed FY26 budget of$578,156.76, which is a 5.79% increase from FY25.

“We envision Hopkinton as a community which values and respects its seniors and that Hopkinton should be a place for seniors to continue to have active and independent lives and where they continue to live in their homes safely for as long as they choose,” said Beck. “If you aren’t already a senior, you’re a senior in training.”

The department has two employees on salary, 13 hourly, and relies on hundreds of volunteers, said Beck. “Senior Services is able to do a lot with a little and we always find ways to make it work,” said Beck.

The biggest area of concern for the department is its monthly newsletters that get mailed to approximately 2,500 homes, said Beck. The department will need nearly $5,000 of additional funding from the town to continue the newsletter costs. She encourages residents to be willing to read online newsletters to reduce the mailing cost.

During public forum, prior to the budget presentations, Council on Aging (COA) Secretary Sam Docknevich read a letter from the Council in support of the Senior Services department’s proposed budget.

The letter explained that the town will see growth in the percentage of its residents who are seniors. Seniors in Hopkinton who want to “age in place” are faced with three major challenges — financial insecurities from taxes, limited transportation options, and the inability to downsize housing, Docknevich said. Funding for the senior center will allow the town’s senior citizens to age in place and remain in the town. 

“Meeting the needs of seniors is just as important as meeting the needs of Hopkinton’s children,” said Docknevich.

COA Vice Chair Paula Haas spoke as a private resident to offer more support to Docknevich’s statements. She said residents have told her they plan to move out of the town because of financial difficulties and a lack of affordable housing to downsize. Haas said she has also heard of people moving to Hopkinton for the school system and plan to move out after.

“The best thing is to have a nice balance of older folks and families with children,” she said. “It gives it a good feel to the community.” 

Youth & Family Services Director Dawn Alcott Miller presented a proposed FY26 budget of $348,407.20, which is a .1% decrease from FY25. The department’s operating budget did not increase. This includes Project Just Because’s $25,000-per-year contract that has not increased in 10 years.

“On the surface, it looks like a nice story to tell,” said Miller. “But … grant funds from federal sources are being reviewed right now. We are really in a state of uncertainty as far as knowing what the future looks like for our grant funds.”

The town pays for just more than half of the department’s personnel costs, while the rest is paid for by federal grant funding, said Miller. Two of the department’s staff are fully funded by grants, while three other positions are partially funded by grants. “We’re the only department, I think, that is this heavily grant-funded,” said Miller.

If federal grant funding is discontinued, the department will lose two youth substance use prevention staff and will not have funds to fill the program coordinator/clinical position that has been vacant since October 2023, said Miller.

Town Manager Elaine Lazarus clarified that Youth & Family Services is the only town department that has staff supported by grants.

Senior Accounting Manager/Town Accountant Cindy Johnson presented a FY26 budget of $288,612 for Accounting/Procurement & Grants, which is an 8.6% decrease from the FY25 budget, and had no Capital requests. 

The biggest cost for the department is $47,000 for an audit that comes from the general fixed budget and not the department’s budget, Johnson added.