ashland

After having a money squeeze last summer, selectmen last night toyed with ideas to make water and sewer budgets more predictable… To meet the requirements of the Department of Revenue, the town increased sewer rates by 18 percent and dropped water rates by 21.5 percent to soften the blow. Officials said last night that they did not want to be caught off guard again if water or sewer revenue doesn't meet expectations. "Our board got proactive with this and said, 'What can we do to have a little more control?"' Fetherston said. [Full Article: Ashland TAB]

In the wake of a narrowly-defeated Proposition 2 ½ override campaign, Ashland town officials are now convening a General Government/School Financial Operations Ad Hoc Committee, charged with evaluating the current fiscal operations of the town government’s finance department and the school department’s business office, according to the Boston Globe.