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.