Marlborough To Hold Public Hearing On $169M City Budget

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Marlborough Mayor Arthur Vigeant proposed a $169 million budget for fiscal year 2020 and the city council reviewed it earlier this month. Now, the council want's resident's feedback on the budget. A public hearing is set for Monday at 8 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.

The proposed budget would be a 3.8 percent increase over this year’s $162.8 million budget. Vigeant said in his budget message, real estate taxes are expected to remain under 3 percent under the proposed budget.

A main driver behind this years budget: health insurance. This is nothing new from years past and Vigeant said recommended medical plan increases include 5 percent for Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) senior plans, 7 percent for Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans and 7 percent for dental.

The schools have a proposed $63.5 million budget, a 2.8 percent increase from this year's budget. The 2020 school budget includes added school resource officers at two of the district schools, Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School and Whitcomb Middle School. About $1.1 million of the school budget is going to contracted raises and increases for existing services.

With the school bus contract expiring in 2020 the city is anticipating an increase in the cost of student transportation. A fourth elementary school is also in the works.

The full budget can be found on the city's website.