Whitman Town Meeting adopts $2 million cut budget after override defeat

WHITMAN -- June 11, 2025, Whitman Special Town Meeting adopts a fiscal year 2026 budget that cuts more than $2 million in spending following a failed Proposition 2½ override. The 117-voter meeting, convened June 11 at town hall, approved a package backed unanimously by the Board of Selectmen and on a 6-2-1 Finance Committee vote, accepting a Whitman-Hanson Regional School District operating assessment of $19,917,569, roughly $1.064 million below the figure set at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting, along with reductions to police, fire, building inspection, veterans services, DPW, and several clerical positions. Finance Committee Chair Kathleen Othena noted that despite the elimination of 23 district positions, only three school employees will be laid off outright. Board of Selectmen member Sean Cain announced the board had voted hours earlier to redirect $150,000 from the ambulance revenue account toward police and fire shift coverage, calling it a bridge to a fall Special Town Meeting. Town Meeting voted 79-47 to restore the building inspector's salary line to $185,650 by drawing $32,018 from free cash, and separately amended the veterans services line to transfer $13,265 from free cash. An amendment to level-fund the fire department at its fiscal year 2025 appropriation of $4,110,180 was defeated after town counsel Peter Summers warned the budget must remain balanced, and articles ratifying a new three-year police union contract were passed over with negotiations still ongoing.