**This is a developing story. Stay with the Current for updates.
The Select Board on Wednesday night instructed Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer to research three potential Proposition 2 1/2 override “tiers” for May’s Town Meeting as it grapples with a projected $7.7 million deficit for fiscal year 2027.
Kezer is expected to present the tiers to the Select Board on March 19, when the board is also scheduled to vote on its recommended budget.
The override tiers include:
- A “restorative” override that would restore proposed cuts.
- An intermediate tier that would restore proposed cuts and augment services.
- A top tier that would include additional funding to improve and modernize town services.
Board members spent much of Wednesday’s discussion debating whether voters should be presented with a single override proposal or multiple options.
“It’s a Town Meeting decision, and the more choices we can give them, probably the better off we are,” said Select Board member Jim Zisson. “That’s going to be my overriding thought.”
Member Moses Grader supported the most conservative approach.
“I’m in favor of a restoration override only for this year, with multiple questions, allowing the town to select what they restore from the cuts that we’re facing,” Grader said.
Others cautioned against solving the problem for only a single year.
“I don’t want to be back here next year in the same spot,” said Chair Dan Fox. “I don’t want to solve this for one year.”
Scare tactics?
Select Board member Erin Noonan addressed concerns in the community that town leaders are using “scare tactics” to pressure voters into raising their tax rate.
“This is agonizing,” Noonan said about the budget process. “And I think the idea that we are employing scare tactics or cherry picking a strategic thing, because we have an agenda … It couldn’t be farther from the truth. These are not fabricated numbers. These are what they are. This deficit has been coming. We’ve been expecting this. There’s only so many buckets and levers we can pull to get $7 million.”
Budget scenarios
Last week, Kezer presented two potential scenarios to fill the gap. Fox reviewed the scenarios Wednesday night.
Under Scenario A, the town would cut 56 staff positions and close several departments, including the Abbot Public Library, the Council on Aging and the Recreation and Parks Department.
Under Scenario B, the town would charge residents $254 per year for curbside trash and recycling collection and require the school district to cut an additional $1.5 million from its already level-funded budget.
The School Committee is expected to meet Thursday, March 12 to discuss the additional $1.5 million in cuts requested in Scenario B. The Finance Committee will be there as well.
Sustainability coordinator leaving
Meanwhile, the town’s sustainability coordinator, Logan Casey, is leaving Marblehead, Community Development and Planning Director Brendan Callahan confirmed Wednesday night.
Casey’s position was being eliminated in both budget scenarios.
