Belmont’s Financial Reality Requires Discipline
Belmont homeowners don’t need another slogan or reassurance. They need straight talk—because the numbers are flashing red.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s FY2026 data, Belmont now ranks eighth highest in the state for average property taxes at $19,579 per household.
Belmont Schools’ Bite of the Budget
The BEA (Belmont Education Association) recently circulated a piece in which the school’s portion of the General Fund budget is stated to be 42% of the total. That 42% figure significantly understates how much of Belmont’s General Fund goes to schools. The 42% figure is incorrect and only reflects part of the total expenditure.
IF I MAY: Keeping Belmont’s Democracy Alive
In one of the more recent iterations of what appears to be an escalating effort to squelch differing opinions, Select Board members have dismissed the efforts of Doug Koplow, a Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member (TMM) and head of the Cushing Square Neighborhood Association (CSNA) as obstructionist and even suggested that he does not understand aspects of the proposed Belmont Center Overlay by-law.
Belmont’s Community Path
Proposed Community Path: The proposed Community Path has been under consideration for the past twenty years, and state funding deadlines are approaching.
Concern about compromised due diligence of Phase 1 design in the rush to secure funding
Belmont taxpayers have already funded $2million for Phase 1 design
Potential for an additional $5million Belmont taxpayer money needed for Phase 1
Response: “Political Party Organizations Barred from Town Day” – The 6/27/25 Belmont Voice
At the June 23rd Select Board meeting, Member Taylor Yates mischaracterized Citizens for a Fiscally Responsible Belmont (CFRB) as a “political activist” group.