Woburn's Northeast Met Assessment Rises $677,000 as Committees Review FY27 Budgets

HALIFAX — May 26, 2026 — Woburn council committees review FY27 budgets and advance Wyman School ground lease process. Three Woburn City Council committees met May 26 to hear department budget presentations and act on pending orders. The most significant financial item came from Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Finance Director Jay Pacone, who presented a $48,516,400 FY27 operating budget — an 11.89 percent increase — resulting in a $677,449 rise in Woburn's assessment to $3,925,906, driven by debt-service normalization of a $9.1 million annual payment and a slowdown in Chapter 70 state aid that yielded only $526,000 for a 35-student enrollment increase against $910,000 for 31 students the prior year. The Committee on Infrastructure and Public Lands voted unanimously to advance an order authorizing the mayor to develop an RFP for a ground lease of the historic Wyman School at 679 Main Street, with Councilor Demers noting "the number one goal is the preservation language to preserve the look of the castle." Building Commissioner Tom Quinn reported eight ADU permits issued since the state law took effect, including the first occupancy certificate for a detached ADU issued the week prior, and said a second building inspector is targeted for the first Monday in August. The Fire Department is adding four graduating firefighters on June 5 but remains short-staffed, with the chief and President Toro both expressing interest in an eventual transition from BLS to ALS service.