Finance Committee Reviews Full Warrant, Opposes Shawsheen Tech Funding Article

TEWKSBURY — March 30, 2026 — Tewksbury Finance Committee reviews full annual warrant and goes on record against a $405,000 Shawsheen Valley Technical High School petitioner's article. Town Manager John walked the seven-member committee through more than 20 warrant articles Monday, including a $2.5 million capital appropriation from the stabilization fund covering DPW sidewalks, fire apparatus, and a $277,000 Town Hall HVAC replacement. The committee's most pointed exchange came on Article 24, with the town manager calling the Shawsheen request "an unplanned expense" and criticizing the district for coming before the board without having established the full project cost — "I was almost insulted by how unprepared they were," he said. A special town meeting warrant includes salary adjustments for the police chief, fire chief, DPW director, finance director, HR director, and building commissioner, with the Finance Director position now set at approximately $183,000 after the prior incumbent was lost to the market. The committee's public hearing on the budget and warrant articles is set for April 27.