Billerica Finance Committee approves $237,657 in end-of-year transfers, elects new officers

BILLERICA — July 7, 2026 — Billerica's Finance Committee reorganized for the new fiscal year and approved two end-of-year transfers totaling $237,657 at its July 7 meeting. Donald Damon was elected chair unanimously, John Malloy was elected vice chair 9-1 in absentia, and Mary was re-elected secretary. The committee voted 10-0 to transfer $156,544.84 from the workers' compensation line to cover a Medicare employer-share shortfall, and 10-0 to move $81,112.77 from the Finance Committee reserve to eight utility and veterans benefit accounts drained by a harsh winter and a 13 percent spike in natural gas delivery charges. The panel also adopted four placeholder warrant articles for fall town meeting, each capped at $6 million in free cash, for the debt stabilization fund, capital stabilization fund, land bank, and tax-levy reduction — with the land bank article passing 9-1. In a briefing on the unresolved Shawsheen Valley Technical High School regional budget, multiple members said they remained unwilling to support the school's revised proposal, which carries a $623,821 gap above Billerica's spring town meeting appropriation; if member towns do not approve a budget by December 1, 2026, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education assumes fiscal control.