HADLEY — Anticipating difficulty in bringing a fiscal year 2027 municipal budget that preserves existing town and school services before residents in May, the Select Board is beginning outreach that could set the stage for another attempt to pass a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override.
The board is scheduling what are being called Finance Education and Resident Listening Sessions for both Jan. 28 and Feb. 11, at 6 p.m., where people can attend in-person at the Hadley Senior Center or participate via Zoom.
The idea of these sessions, being held on regular Select Board evenings, is to provide an overview of the town’s current financial landscape and gather ideas from the public on how to move forward, following the rejection of a $2.25 million Proposition 2½ tax-cap override last September for the current fiscal year 2026 municipal budget.
People are encouraged to send comments and questions in advance to info@hadleyma.org.
At the board’s Jan. 7 meeting, Select Board member Jane Nevinsmith said these meetings would allow the Select Board, Finance Committee and the town’s financial team to understand community concerns prior to bringing a spending plan to Town Meeting, and possibly have another override in advance.
“I think we need to focus on having an override and I think we need to focus on having it not part of annual Town Meeting,” Nevinsmith said.
The question, she said, is whether voters would support a smaller override.
Select Board member David J. Fill II said the challenge is getting accurate information, as some residents may not believe there have been layoffs, even though one of the most visible impacts of the failed override was the termination of two full-time firefighters.
Fill said Hadley officials could put out information about what changes have been made and efficiencies that have been implemented.
“To this day, I hear, ‘if we just laid off more people, our budget problems would be solved,'” Fill said. “They don’t realize the staffing is just a very small percentage of our budget.”
Select Board chairman Randy Izer said there needs to be a matter of trust, and telling residents what has been lost already. “Whether it sinks in is going to be another whole issue,” Izer said.
Unlike public sessions held last summer in advance of the special Town Meeting in September, when the override was initially rejected, Select Board member Molly Keegan said there needs to be more interaction and dialogue. One of the complaints she heard was residents felt they were being preached to, and she wants people to be able to share constructive ideas.
Select Board member Amy Parsons said the public needs to give the board grace, as many of the changes in staffing remain in flux.
Interim Town Administrator Michael Mason said Town Hall is still trying to find efficiencies in the current budget cycle and making them a reality. This means trying to reduce the need for an override or to have one that is much smaller.
“We’re looking at that right now, we’re looking at how we do things across all departments,” Mason said.
Mason said so far about 10 municipal positions have been cut and schools lost a substantial amount of money, as well, and there remains a risk that without an override, more positions and programs will be lost.