Shrewsbury Finance Committee Approves $113,000 Police Salary Reserve Transfer Unanimously

SHREWSBURY -- July 8, 2026, Shrewsbury Finance Committee votes unanimously to tap reserve fund for $113,000 police salary shortfall. The committee approved the transfer at its July 8 meeting, exhausting what remained of the town's fiscal year 2026 reserve fund with two weeks left before the books close on July 15. The request, presented by the Town Manager's office and supported by a memo from Police Chief Kevin Anderson, covered several colliding costs: retroactive pay after a police union contract settled at 3.5 percent against a budgeted 2 percent, overtime to backfill an officer on long-term injured-on-duty leave under MGL Chapter 41, Section 111F, retirement payouts for two officers who left on June 30, and a lump-sum June education stipend and holiday equalizer payment worth roughly $200,000. Committee member David Bremington pressed staff on why the shortfall was not caught earlier, given that the June obligations and the upcoming retirements were known during the budget process; staff acknowledged it was "a little bit of a perfect storm" and conceded that both the department and the Town Manager's office should have flagged the problem sooner. The town committed to standardizing a retirement-tracking template for the next budget cycle and said it will revisit disability insurance options for the Police Department.