We are sharing a point about the Ayer Senior Center project from the Town Meeting process.
Fall 2025
The Town of Ayer presented voters with a $15.1 million proposal to build a new senior center on Bishop Road in Fall 2025.
On October 27th 2025, at Special Town Meeting, voters approved debt exclusion borrowing up to $11.55 million. Voters also approved the borrowing at a Special Town Election a few days later.
About a week before Special Town Meeting, the Ayer Select Board met and approved the use of $1 million in UDAG funds as part of the overall financing plan. UDAG is federal program that provides communities with funds related to economic development.
At that time, the town management presented a few potential scenarios for paying off the UDAG. One scenario was Town Meeting could pay back $100,000 a year over 10 years. Another scenario called for four payments. These were based on the availability of Free Cash.
March 2026
Fast forward to March 2026, as the town prepares for the Annual Town Meeting, which is Monday, April 27th. We want to reference two meetings (the March 19th Finance Committee meeting and the Town of Ayer’s Budget Forum on March 25th). At both meetings, the town management recommended replenishing $500,000 in UDAG funds at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting. This is because the Town of Ayer has a high Free Cash certification – of $2.9 million – this year, after another high certification last year. This would be ahead of the potential scenarios discussed last Fall.
References:
Ayer Finance Committee Meeting, March 19th, 2026, start at 1:37 min.
We are also sharing an article we wrote last Fall below.