Officials in the four towns that make up the Nauset Public Schools asked Superintendent Brooke Clenchy for an honest budget for the coming fiscal year. They got what they asked for. Faced with rising costs, staffing shortages and needs extending beyond the classroom, the Nauset Regional School Committee on March 9 unanimously approved a $32.9 million operating budget for fiscal 2024, an increase of 7.6 perc...

As more towns across the Cape continue to plan for and enact sewering, the county has expanded its septic loan program to include those residents ready to connect to municipal wastewater systems. Formerly known as the Barnstable County Community Septic Loan Program, the newly rebranded "Aquifund" offers loans with interest rates ranging from zero to 4 percent to residential property owners looking to repair or...

ORLEANS – For years, the council on aging newsletter, "Tidings," has kept residents in touch with the agency's programming and services. It's done so in part through money budgeted annually by the town to help produce it. But that funding almost didn't come through for the council for the coming fiscal year. The select board voted March 1 to reinstate $6,000 in the draft fiscal 2024 operating budget earmarked ...

Although the numbers won't be finalized until March, the latest draft of the Monomoy Regional School District budget for next year shows slight decreases in the assessments for both Chatham and Harwich. The spending plan's bottom line remains the same as presented last month at $44,323,116, a 3.6 percent increase over the current year, but the estimate contribution of each town changed slightly in figures pres...

ORLEANS – What will the Snow Library look like in 30 years? A new feasibility study may be the first step toward finding out. The Snow Library Board of Trustees got the select board's support last week to work with town staff to prepare an article for May's annual town meeting seeking capital improvement funds for the study, which would look at options and possibilities for a new facility. The existing libr...

CHATHAM — Town Manager Jill Goldsmith presented the select board with her draft budget summary for fiscal 2024 last week, floating a $37,761,514 operating budget. The spending plan represents an increase of 7.6 percent over the current year's plan, but would be funded without the need for a tax increase. While Goldsmith had a preliminary plan that would add more than 12 new full-time employees, the most recent...