South Hadley eyes second override request in June

SOUTH HADLEY — A week after voters rejected two tax overrides by a 2-to-1 margin, more than 200 residents packed the Senior Center Tuesday night to hear where the town goes from here and to press to protect school funding.

The answer to that “next step” question, expected to be made by the Select Board at its May 5 meeting, could send voters back to the ballot box this spring to decide on a scaled-back $4.35 million request to stave off deep cuts to schools and municipal services over the next two fiscal years. 

The failed $9 million and $11 million Proposition 2 1⁄2 override votes on April 14 have left the town without an immediate way to fill its budget gaps for the next four or five years. While many taxpayers breathed a sigh of relief after dodging unaffordable tax bills, the school community felt the weight of loss.

“I know this was a financial decision, but for students, it feels like we were the easiest thing to cut,” South Hadley High School sophomore Kelcey Zraunig told members of the Select Board, School Committee, Appropriations Committee and Capital Planning Committee at Tuesday’s meeting.

Members of those four boards discussed floating another override at a special election in June before the end of the current fiscal year. This override, however, would be smaller and give the schools and the town necessary support to maintain services over the next two years and to turn around a $3 million school choice deficit projected to grow by 10% per year.

Unlike the previous question, this ballot question would specify amounts for each department or even certain positions. Voters can approve the ceiling, but it would be up to Town Meeting to decide how much of the override funds would be spent each year. Any of the remaining funds could go into an Override Stabilization Fund to grow in interest and extend into future years.

Without this funding, Superintendent Jennifer Voyik said the cuts to the schools would be so severe that she would be forced to manage by herself on a “day-to-day” basis. “You can’t dig in and find solutions and strategically figure out what the next step is,” she said.

When asked if Select Board members would support another override, Vice Chair Carol Constant and Clerk Renee Sweeney said yes. However, new members Priscilla Marion and Kevin Hennessey, along with Chair Jeff Cyr, said they would need more time to review the proposal.

Budget options for FY27

Town Administrator Lisa Wong presented the four boards with proposed budgets for the next three fiscal years. The deficit for fiscal year 2027 is estimated to be around $2 million, with the schools seeing a $1.2 million shortfall.

In fiscal year 2028, that gap is projected to climb to $4.37 million, followed by $6.7 million in fiscal year 2029. Health insurance remains the driver for the majority of these increases, rising 15% annually. That compares to town budget increases of 2% per year and school budget increases of 4% per year.

“I know that within the community, there’s been some reference to mismanagement by the town, and my view is that’s totally inaccurate,” Appropriations Committee member Joel Prough said. “I do think there’s a certain amount of wastage. I think that’s true anywhere, not nearly enough that would not require an override.”

Options for new revenue streams are limited, Wong said. Mount Holyoke College capped its cash contributions at $60,000 this year. Economic development and fee increases are projected to bring in five or six figures, but still far below rising costs, she said.

Residents who voted against the override want the town to use the $4.7 million in available free cash to prop up the budget. However, Wong said that if the town uses free cash to fill the gap, it would drain the balance in three years. Prough added that the town’s favorable borrowing interest rates will rise if the town does not maintain 5% to 7% of the town’s operating budget in free cash.

“I do want to note that because of the override vote the way it went, the credit agencies have contacted me for a preliminary meeting,” Wong said. “So there is an impact on the credit rating already.”

Pleads for support

Most of the meeting’s attendees implored the town to fully fund the school budget’s $1.2 million shortfall next year. Without that funding, the schools will cut all 23 athletic programs, at least 40 clubs and extracurriculars and a full selection of music. 

Since last week’s override votes, the following positions are slated to be eliminated: four core subject high school teachers, one music teacher, an assistant superintendent, an assistant director of student services, the athletic director and athletic trainer, an assistant principal and a mental health coordinator.

“So what can our students expect for next year? A shell of a school,” said South Hadley High School Principal Elizabeth Woods.

Other speakers proposed alternative solutions besides a tax increase. Charles Miles asked for larger cuts to general government, police and public works budgets to give the schools a greater sum, while Ashley Crawley asked the town to delay some of the $1.2 million in projected capital spending and divert the money to the operating budget. 

Jacqueline Dupre, representing the Alliance for Fair Taxes, requested the Select Board establish a voluntary contribution line on tax bills for families who wish to donate to town services. If all 2,592 voters who voted in favor of the override donated $1,158 a year, Dupre reasoned, it would cover the budget gap.

“The town’s tax override battle received nationwide attention, turned neighbor against neighbor and students against taxpayers,” Dupre said. “This proposal would allow those who can and want to pay more taxes to do so.”

A few residents asked how Marion and Hennessey, who both opposed the override as part of their campaign, planned to support the town budget. The two new Select Board members repeated their campaign promises to look at salary structures and find waste in town.

“I was looking at it as we are trading one crisis for another,” Marion said. “We’re transferring the burden from the budget over to our residents to figure out how they are going to pay their increase in taxes, along with all of the other increases in expenses. So I think that we need to come up with a solution that looks at our town as a whole.”

The Appropriations Committee approved moving $10,000 to elections in case of a special election in June. However, until the Select Board decides on a special election, the current budget will be presented for a vote at Town Meeting on May 13.