SOUTH HADLEY — The upcoming $3.5 million Proposition 2½ override vote on Sept. 1 could provide South Hadley the financial stability it needs to reverse its fiscal downslide, town leaders told those gathered for a recent information session.
At the community meeting on Aug. 1, Town Administrator Lisa Wong and Superintendent Jennifer Voyik updated residents on the financial audits in progress, potential payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) contributions and revenue generation in the school budget.
However, staff retention and burnout both weigh heavily on the administrators and threaten to stifle additional progress, they warned.
“We’ve definitely had turnover because we can’t consistently guarantee what these positions are going to be, even in the next year,” Wong said.
This is the second time voters will weigh in on a tax override for fiscal year 2027. Last April, residents rejected multiyear $9 million and $11 million overrides, which forced Town Meeting to allocate $1.7 million in free cash to preserve services this year — a move that will not plug the deficit in subsequent budget seasons.
That’s why the Select Board is coming back with a scaled-back override request of $3.5 million to be decided on primary day. If approved, the override would help balance the budget over the next two fiscal years, providing the schools with a stable increase and hopefully preventing fewer students from leaving the district.
Residents in attendance spoke in favor of the override and efforts to turn around the town’s structural deficit. However, they advised Wong to consider putting more of the override funds into senior services.
“With the huge population of seniors citizens in town, we need to convince them that there interests are going to be represented,” resident Janet Stawasz said.
The override begins in the current fiscal year, so if it passes, residents would see its impact on the next two property tax bills. According to the Division of Local Services Property Tax Impact calculator, the average single-family home valued at $417,106 would pay an additional $559 in taxes each year. The permanent tax increase is in addition to the 2.5% tax levy adjustment allowed each year.
Revenue and efficiencies
Financial PILOT contributions have stagnated after Mount Holyoke College agreed to make a $60,000 contribution. However, South Hadley leadership is expected to meet with college officials on Aug. 19 to discuss other types of donations.
Resident Karen Walsh Pio encouraged these types of contributions to boost educational opportunities and student involvement in the community.
“The stronger we can build a relationship with Mount Holyoke, the more enhanced our district is,” Pio said.
As requested by voters, both the schools and town have launched audits into their operations. The Division of Labor Services started to analyze financial personnel across the town, schools and districts last week. This review is not about saving money, Wong said, but rather will look at consulting staff across the agencies fulfilling the same role.
The schools, meanwhile, are taking a deep dive into special education, one of its largest budget expenses. Voyik and her team are reviewing student files and survey responses from families and special education staff. The data will decipher the most efficient ways to deliver these services.
The special education audit might not “cut in half or disappear” expenses, Voyik said, “But we want to make sure that we are providing the services our students need, and we want to do it in an efficient way.”
Special education remains one of the largest drivers of the town’s deficit, but a portion of this expense, transportation, is beginning to bring in revenue. Town Meeting approved $1.2 million to move special education transportation in-house and save the schools $500,000 a year. Since then, Voyik has established a transportation department that other communities, like Holyoke and Granby, now pay to use.
The additional $300,000 Town Meeting invested into the schools this year has also seen some payoff. The new vocational director at the high school started last week, and will begin the process of certifying a criminal justice vocational program. With its fourth vocational pathway registered with the state, South Hadley will officially become a “comprehensive high school.” Schools that offer both college preparatory and vocational career pathways receive more state aid.
Stawasz asked whether it is wise to create a new position during a budget crisis, but Voyik said the vocational director is expected to sustain itself by tutitioning in five students the following years.
“I know that spending money when you’re in a difficult financial position is hard, but I feel like we have to make some strategic investments or we’re just going to keep going down,” Voyik said.
Staff reductions
Prior to hiring a vocational director, South Hadley High School Principal Elizabeth Wood tried several times to certify more programs, but did not have the capacity. Low staffing levels, expanded responsibilities and high burnout are a common thread among departments in South Hadley, Voyik and Wong said.
Wong hears residents asking to “trim the fat,” but she does not see a lot of expenses left to cut. In fiscal year 2017, there were about 95 employees in town government. A decade later, there are 77 employees. Public works shrunk from 19 to 13 people, and public safety has dropped from 37 to 29 employees.
Neither school nor town officials have received a contractional cost-of-living increase in over three years. The proposed contract for school employees do not include raises for last year. Town employees have also lost a cumulative 1.5% performance based raise, Wong said. For some positions, that is a 10% difference in salary.
“I think the community needs to understand we are reducing staff, and then we are putting staff in a very difficult situation in terms of their salary and their ability to have any kind of opportunity,” resident Emily Young said.
Low salaries and continued position cuts have resulted in high turnover. Wong said two public health employees resigned after their full-time positions went to part-time. The high school lost half its science teachers to other districts paying higher salaries.
If the override passes, it gives the town three years to fix its fiscal challenges and prevents further layoffs impacting morale, Wong said.
““We want a good stable budget,” she continued. “We want to protect our public safety, our education, our library, etc. for the next three years. That’s what the $3.5 million will go towards.”
Correction, August 10, 2026 9:27 am: This article has been updated to reflect the total staff reductions of South Hadley Police Department.
