Natick Select Board eyes phasing out free cash by 2031

Select Board · Meeting of September 16, 2026

Natick Select Board eyes ending use of reserves for budget by 2031. Finance Director Ari Skye's five-year forecast showed potential shortfalls of up to $16.7 million by fiscal 2032, depending on how aggressively the town funds a retiree health care liability topping $100 million. Board members agreed in principle to stop using "free cash" to fund operations and asked Skye to return September 30 with detailed budget guardrails.

Member Bruce Evans said the town gets "no credit for being good guys" on early OPEB funding and urged staff to find "the sweet spot." Separately, the board granted a liquor license to PB Natick Steakhouse LLC, accepted Hill Street into the road-acceptance process while denying Point Street, and extended a downtown dumpster permit over objections from business owner Ted Janakopoulos, who said "no problems have ever existed until the residents have moved into the downtown." A motion to swap Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day on the town calendar failed for lack of a second.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of September 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.