Sharon Board of Finance schedules special meeting after debate over $41,250 in tuition receipts and MBR

The Sharon Board of Finance met in special session April 24 at Town Hall and moved to defer final action on both the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education budgets until a follow-up meeting after members raised questions about $41,250 in tuition receipts and how including those receipts in the BOE budget would affect the town’s Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR).

Vice Chairman Fowler called the meeting to order at 8:49 p.m. and the board first voted to appoint Mrs. Toppan, an alternate member, as a voting member for the session. The board then approved forwarding the Board of Selectmen’s proposed budget to Town Meeting with one exception: the board voted to move $41,250 in tuition receipts to the Board of Education’s proposed budget for Town Meeting consideration. That motion was made by Mr. Bartram and seconded by Mrs. Pastre and was recorded as approved "with all in favor."

Board members raised concerns about whether shifting the tuition receipts would change the town’s legal Minimum Budget Requirement because the gross budget would remain the same while the net budget figures would change. During the meeting Dr. O’Reilly contacted Region 1 Business Manager Sam Herrick by phone; Mr. Herrick said he would call the state on Monday, April 27 to request a determination on how the receipts should be treated for MBR calculations. The board decided it needed the state’s guidance before finalizing the budgets.

To allow time for that determination, Mr. Hecht moved and Mrs. Pastre seconded a motion to hold a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 to continue discussion of the BOE budget; the motion passed unanimously. With the MBR question unresolved, Mr. Bartram then moved, and Mrs. Pastre seconded, to rescind the earlier motion forwarding the Board of Selectmen’s budget (the rescission also passed "with all in favor"), meaning both budgets will be revisited at the April 28 special meeting.

Mrs. Robertson moved to adjourn; Mrs. Toppan seconded, and the meeting concluded at 9:28 p.m. The board recorded no roll-call tallies in the minutes beyond noting motions and that each motion passed "with all in favor."