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.