North Reading Select Board Cuts Budget Gap, Adds 97 Main Street Articles to Town Meeting Warrant

NORTH READING — April 6, 2026 — North Reading Select Board narrows its FY27 municipal budget deficit to $615,000 and advances 97 Main Street purchase articles for June town meeting. Finance Director Lauren Conley presented updated figures Monday showing the gap falling from $698,000 after a vocational school assessment dropped to $754,000 and health insurance enrollment declined, though the school department absorbed a new $200,000 special education cost leaving it with a $32,781 deficit of its own. Town Administrator Michael Gilberto said the remaining municipal gap will be closed by deferring four firefighter hires to January 1 and drawing an additional $15,000 from the ambulance reserve. The board voted unanimously to sign the May 5 town election warrant, featuring a three-way contested Select Board race among Jack Harold, Jeffrey Griffin, and Charles Tyler, and approved a change-of-ownership for Eastgate Liquors and a one-day beer license for Brunt Workwear's May 2 grand opening. A 3-2 consensus directed the administration to study term limits for all appointed officials, with a potential bylaw article targeting the October town meeting.