Arlington Finance Committee approves retirement budget, pension growth rate cut for override

ARLINGTON — February 25, 2026 — Arlington Finance Committee approves FY27 budgets for commissions, votes $16.6 million retirement appropriation. The committee worked through more than a dozen department and commission budgets at its February 25 meeting, including a $76,500 appropriation for the Water Bodies Working Group to treat Spy Pond, the Mystic Lakes, and the reservoir, and a $2,700 budget for Zero Waste Arlington after a mandated 10 percent reduction. The panel approved a retirement tax appropriation of $16,620,963, based on an actuarial requirement of $18,407,735 calculated by Segal Consulting, and voted to transfer $805,000 into the town's OPEB trust fund, now valued at roughly $32.7 million. A side agreement between Town Manager James Feeney and retirement board chair Kenneth Hughes would reduce annual pension contribution growth from 5.5 percent to 5 percent if a pending override passes — a shift that defers roughly $278,000 in cumulative costs but requires a payment about $500,000 higher in fiscal year 2033. The Human Resources budget of $451,047 passed 15-0 with one abstention after discussion of the HR director's expanded collective bargaining role.