Northborough committee report repeats support for ARPA funds for fire engine, tank

By Laura Hayes Managing Editor

NORTHBOROUGH – After a split vote by the Board of Selectmen rejected using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to replace a fire department engine and tight tank in the highway garage, the draft warrant calls for funding the projects at Town Meeting.

These articles heading to Town Meeting comes after both the Appropriations and Financial Planning Committee recommended using ARPA funds for the projects.

During his report to the board on Feb. 27, Selectman Scott Rogers read a portion of the Financial Planning Committee’s report that will be in the Town Meeting booklet.

“The committee believes the financially conservative approach would be to use ARPA funds for projects that are immediately needed and ask the voters to support future discretionary projects once they are known and appropriately defined,” the Fi- nancial Planning Committee wrote in its report.

In their report, the committee said that its members continued to recommend using ARPA funds for both the fire engine and tight tank and result in “no additional tax impact to residents.”

The debt from the projects is estimated to cost the average single-family Northborough home $27 a year or $270 over 10 years. If approved at Town Meeting, it is projected to hit the tax bills in fiscal year 2025.

In their report, the committee recognized that the ARPA funds “were designed to be used quickly during the pandemic” and the reason why the funds require the vote by the selectmen, not Town Meeting approval.

“However, given that the state of emergency is over, it is concerning that the Board of Selectmen has chosen to ignore the unanimous votes of both the Financial Planning Committee and the Appropriations Committee with regard