Belmont Select Board Pledges Not to Adopt Parking Benefit District Hurting General Fund

BELMONT -- October 20, 2025, Belmont Select Board votes to protect general fund before special town meeting parking showdown. Meeting Monday night in advance of Wednesday's special town meeting, the board voted unanimously to pledge it would not adopt a parking benefit district under Article 12 that would negatively impact the general fund, which currently receives roughly $30,000 annually from parking revenues. Chair Matt Taylor presented revenue data from Arlington showing that town's meter income jumped from roughly $60,000 to $357,000 the year it implemented a benefit district in 2017 and to $548,000 the following year, against Belmont's current $68,000. "We are leaving a lot of money on the table," Taylor said. The board also voted unanimously to recommend favorable action on Article 13, the Chenery Middle School schematic design, after bond counsel and the Massachusetts School Building Authority cleared the language, and appointed Roy Epstein, Mark Palillo, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, and School Superintendent Jill Geiser to the Police Chief Screening Committee through February 20, 2026, with additional seats to be filled Wednesday.