South Hadley Town Meeting members vote for their preferred potential tax override scenario in the town.
Photo credit: SHCTV15
SOUTH HADLEY — With town-altering cuts proposed for fiscal year 2027 and years to come, South Hadley residents met on Feb. 25 during a Special Town Meeting to voice their support for a Proposition 2 1/2 override to save jobs, town buildings and extracurricular activities.
For months, South Hadley has warned the public about the upcoming budget deficits that would potentially cause the elimination of positions within town services and the School Department. Additionally, the potential cuts could lead to the closure of municipal buildings and the removal of extracurricular activities from the school system, including all sports.
In an effort to find solutions to the town’s budget deficit, South Hadley formed the Budget Task Force to gather data, gain public input and construct a report with problems and recommended/potential solutions.
The budget gap for FY27 is approximately between $3.15 million and $3.55 million. The executive summary from the Budget Task Force stated, “the budget deficit is not attributable to a single issue, rather, it is the cumulative result of several decades of contributing factors.”
An override would allow the town to increase property taxes beyond the 2.5% annual increase cap enforced by Proposition 2 1/2.
After presenting the report to the Selectboard and other town departments on Feb. 9 and 10, which included solutions to increase revenue, a no override option and different override options, the town decided to host a town meeting to get the public’s input.
At Town Meeting, South Hadley voters weighed in on whether to raise the tax levy further than currently allowed, and by how much. The decision, however, will ultimately be made by the Selectboard.
Town Administrator Lisa Wong talked with Reminder Publishing after the Special Town Meeting and shared her thoughts on the process, the meeting and the next steps.
She said, “I thought there was very robust conversation from a lot of residents who feel very deeply engaged and will feel the impact either way, so, if there is an override that doesn’t pass or there is an override, they really shared how much they’ll be affected by the lost services.”
Over 90% of Town Meeting members voted against Article 2 at Special Town Meeting. which would’ve allowed Town Meeting to approve the budget without fully funding services at the Annual Town Meeting in May.
A budget without an override would have resulted in the loss of five school district administration positions and 17 student facing positions, the reduction of two police positions, the loss of six full-time and two part-time dispatchers, the reduction in hours of 10 positions at the library and two positions at the Town Hall, the reduction of two staff members at Town Hall, the reduction of two staff members at the Senior Center and the reduction of two public works employees.
It also would have eliminated town services, including sports, extracurricular programs, advanced placement courses and some school support services. Furthermore, a budget without an override would increase class sizes, close spray parks, reduce highway and parks maintenance, increase response time to public safety calls and/or increase in overtime to offset reduction in patrol officers, reduce customer service facing staff in public buildings as a result of reductions of clerical positions, eliminate a school resource officer and close Gaylord Library.
There were 86 representative Town Meeting members who voted for a tax override preference: 66% voted for the $11 million override option, 19% voted for $9 million override, 9% voted for $6 million override and 6% voted for $3 million override.
Wong did not say which option she prefers.
“I think my role is really just supervise as much information as possible and no matter what the outcome is, is to run the town the best I can with the resources we have,” Wong said. “I’m prepared for every possible scenario.”
All the reports can be found at southhadley.org. The chart breaks down how much an average single family household is projected to pay and what each override scenario looks like.
The Selectboard will discuss placing an override question or questions on the ballot during its meeting on March 3. The annual town election is April 14.
The Annual Town Meeting, which is set to take place in May, is “when this body will actually appropriate a budget for the following year based on the levy limit that is either going to stay the same or increase if there is an override vote,” Wong stated.
Looking ahead to other important budget dates in March, the Selectboard will host a budget public hearing on Tuesday, March 3 and a budget vote on Tuesday, March 17. The School Committee will host their budget public hearing on Wednesday, March 11 before voting on Wednesday, March 25.
There is also a community meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 28. Wong said the meeting will serve as an opportunity for residents to hear more extensive reports on the budget and provide comment.
