Belmont Select Board approves $200,000 water loan, spring community events

BELMONT — February 23, 2026 — Belmont Select Board approves $200,000 no-interest water loan and authorizes spring festivals as FY2027 budget shows $1.7 million gap. Meeting fully remotely due to a winter storm, Chair Matthew Taylor and Vice Chair Taylor Yates — the only members present, with Elizabeth Dionne absent — voted unanimously on six items. Town Treasurer Leslie Davidson said the MWRA no-interest loan covers the remaining available borrowing from a $3.133 million Town Meeting authorization, to be repaid over 10 years at roughly $20,000 annually beginning in February 2027. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin presented a preliminary FY2027 municipal budget growing at 2.5 percent over fiscal year 2026, with a net staffing increase of approximately $100,000 and 1.3 full-time equivalents, but flagged that the town plans to draw $1.7 million from its override mitigation fund to close a gap driven by a 15 percent health insurance increase, pension costs up $253,000, and new facilities expenses for the library and sports rink. The board also approved the Pan-Asian Coalition's fifth annual Lunar New Year Festival for March 15 and the LGBTQ+ Alliance's Pride Parade for May 31, and heard from Chief Innovation Officer Chris McClure that the town is launching a Google Maps-based public GIS platform and hiring a GIS Coordinator to build out a one-stop property information hub.