Library hours up for cut — again — as town trims budget
“That went over like a lead balloon last year. It’s going to go over like a lead balloon again this year.”
Sunday hours at the Acton Free Public Library are back on the chopping block as town officials enter the final stretch of this year’s budget process.
Officials walked back a similar proposal in the previous budget cycle. As she floated the option again, Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said she expects pushback.
“That went over like a lead balloon last year,” she told the Select Board Monday. “It’s going to go over like a lead balloon again this year.”
Ultimately, Lafleur said she’s running out of line items to cut. As some seek deeper reductions, she said the town has to start talking about its priorities.
“We can’t just trim any more,” Lafleur said.
The Finance Committee sets guidelines for annual town and school budget increases.
Assistant Chief Financial Officer Ryan Ferrara offered to keep the town’s 2027 fiscal year increase to at least 3.5%. FinCom told the town to go further and set a 2.5% preliminary mark.
This week’s Select Board presentation was Lafleur’s first budget update since FinCom’s decision. Among initial cuts, she’s nixing a proposed public safety business manager position that could have helped police and fire leaders with financial and administrative tasks.
A proposed position to help manage public records requests is also out. Other possible cuts include a $79,000 reduction in police overtime and a $136,000 dip in firefighter overtime.
The library is already closed Sundays over the summer. A year-round Sunday shutdown would save $44,000.
Lafleur told The Acton Bridge that officials have opted against filling an open risk and compliance manager position, in part because Ferrara has “a lot of experience” in that area.
These and other reductions only get the budget increase to 3.25%. Officials would have to keep cutting to get to 2.5%, and Lafleur said she wants the Select Board’s help.
‘Priorities-based budgeting’
Residents bristled at the prospect of a library closure under the fiscal ’26 budget. Officials temporarily averted a reduction.
Nine months later, Lafleur said, “We’re cutting overtime in the fire department so that we can keep the library open on Sundays.”
“If that’s what the community would like to do, I guess we’d like to not back into it,” she said.
Lafleur previewed a concept of “priorities-based budgeting” with input from the Select Board. This could help officials make tough choices about town services.
Members of FinCom and the Select Board have asked for “benchmarking” to see how Acton’s staffing and services stack up against other towns.
PILOTs taking flight?
On Monday, Select Board member Wendy Rovelli mentioned the town’s stalled push for voluntary payment in lieu of tax agreements with non-profits, saying, “I’d like to think the PILOTs could somehow help us get some money for the library.”
FinCom was scheduled to meet with finance staff on Thursday.
Lafleur is still pushing to add a deputy police chief and an “IT business knowledge manager.” Current plans also include restoring a program in the Natural Resources Division that hired seasonal rangers to patrol conservation lands.
Officials cut the program for fiscal ’26.
“It’s a very important role and there was a lot of disappointment or concern when the funding went,” Natural Resources Commission Chair Sarah Grimwood told The Bridge. “We do have a lot of land.”
Though FinCom’s guidelines are non-binding, town staff have historically pledged to meet the mark. Staff won’t finalize the town budget until next month, and FinCom could still adjust its threshold on its final recommendation.
