Stoughton Finance Committee Adopts Four New Debt Policy Sections in Unanimous Votes

STOUGHTON — April 15, 2026 — Stoughton Finance Committee adopts four new debt-management policy sections and approves a $28,322.81 reserve fund transfer. Meeting Wednesday, the committee voted 13-0 to add a provision targeting levy-limit debt service at between 4 and 6 percent of the general fund budget, language developed by member Ben in consultation with state Division of Local Services staffer Zachary Blake. Three additional sections — requiring the town to replace maturing debt with new issuances to stabilize year-to-year payments, directing the town to fund debt within the levy "when possible" rather than through exclusions, and limiting debt exclusions to building projects — were adopted by wide margins after debate in which members and Town Manager Tom Coulter cited Stoughton's early-2000s fiscal crisis as a cautionary example of over-reliance on within-levy borrowing. The committee also voted unanimously to require departments to complete a "capital to operating exercise" when requesting capital expenditures and to call on the town to develop a 20-year building replacement plan covering municipal and school facilities; the corrected reserve fund balance after the election transfer stands at $321,677.19.