Southampton leaders review FY27 budget as town staff say a $1.7M override may be needed

Becky, chair of the Southampton Select Board, opened the March 12 meeting and turned the floor to Scott, who presented the town’s recommended FY27 budget prepared with a volunteer budget task force.

Scott said the budget was developed with input from schools, the police chief and citizens on the task force and described a regional pattern of revenues lagging expenses. He identified unusually large health‑insurance increases—including two separate 20% spikes last year and retiree runout claims—as a primary driver of the town’s shortfall and said joining the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) should help stabilize future premiums. "This year's budget was definitely not done in a vacuum," he said, noting the presentation reflected conservative revenue assumptions.

The presentation showed town revenues are dominated by the property tax levy, with roughly 15% from state aid and the rest coming from local receipts. Scott illustrated that if education costs grow by about 5% annually, the education budget could outpace the town’s capacity to fund it under Proposition 2½ within five to six years.

Scott and board members said the recommended budget includes a placeholder for an override. The task force’s current planning figure is approximately $1.7M–$1.8M but several speakers warned that figure could rise. Board members flagged that the Norris School Committee voted a restorative budget the night before that is materially higher than the task force’s placeholder; that vote, together with possible Hampshire Regional changes, could push the needed override closer to $2M.

Finance‑committee member Doug walked the board through personnel changes by department, noting step increases and market adjustments in multiple lines and pointing to planned reductions that rely on currently unfilled positions. He highlighted likely increases in highway and police personnel costs and named cuts taken or proposed in the fire department and the library (including a part‑time youth librarian reduction) tied to vacant positions.

Board members debated the trade‑offs of different override sizes. Some said a smaller override (a board member suggested under $500,000) would be politically easier but would leave the town absorbing insurance increases and require deeper cuts to fire, police, highway, library and school services. Others argued that a 1.7M–1.9M ask is a middle path to restore core services, while noting the prior override attempt had narrowly failed.

Scott used the state DLS calculator to show homeowner impact: with an average single‑family assessed value cited at $489,000, a $1.7M override would raise the average tax bill by roughly $675 annually; a larger override approaches about $800 per year in the examples shown.

Scott also described a proposed $350,000 annual capital line that could serve as a borrowing base for multi‑year purchases (ambulance, equipment, building repairs) and allow the town to begin projects earlier by borrowing against that line.

The board asked for more detail from the schools, the task force and updated state aid figures before settling on a recommended override amount to present to voters. Scott and the board said they plan more public outreach (posted budget workbooks and department head briefings) and to publish detailed budget materials on the town website.

The Select Board adjourned by motion at the end of the meeting.