Shrewsbury Finance Committee approves $140,000 in reserve fund transfers to close FY26

SHREWSBURY — June 18, 2026 — Shrewsbury Finance Committee approves $140,000 in reserve fund transfers as fiscal year nears close. The committee voted unanimously on all three transfers at its June 18 meeting, drawing the reserve fund balance from $253,000 down to roughly $113,000 ahead of the June 30 fiscal year-end. The largest transfer, $70,000, covered a deficit in the Highway Department's overtime account driven by snow and ice operations, with labor costs drawn from workers across the public works union — water, sewer, parks, and public buildings staff — all charged to a single highway line. A $20,000 transfer to Town Counsel professional services addressed costs from two unexpected subpoenas: an employment claim in a town-controlled work zone and a dispute over how a large apartment complex billed tenants for utilities, which together consumed "over 10 percent of the budget for legal this year," the town manager told the committee. A third transfer of $50,000 addressed electricity overages at public buildings, complicated by irregular billing cycles from SELCO, the town's municipal electric utility, which is mid-transition to an advanced metering infrastructure system. The committee also authorized the chair, vice chair, or clerk to approve individual reserve transfers up to $15,000 over the summer and voted to postpone leadership reorganization to September.