The Select Board will set the amount of an override that will be on the ballot at the spring election at a meeting on Feb. 12.
On Jan. 26, the board voted 5 to 0 to move the date from its scheduled meeting on Feb. 9 to the later date to receive information from the state about health insurance that could reduce the amount needed through an override of the Proposition 2½ tax cap. The Select Board voted in December to put an override question on the ballot and later voted to have it appear before voters as part of the regular spring election on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
By Feb. 12, the town will learn how the state’s Group Insurance Commission will compensate local municipalities following federal cuts to health insurance reimbursements.
At the Select Board meeting on Jan. 26, Town Manager Jim Feeney outlined the projected budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins on July 1, 2026, the projected deficits for the next two years, and what cuts would need to be made. He was later joined by Arlington’s comptroller Ida Cody for a quarterly update on the town’s expenses and receipts.
The most recent operating override of $7 million, approved by voters in November 2023, will help keep municipal finances afloat until fiscal year 2027. For the 2025 Town Meeting in April, the Finance Committee report included a detailed breakdown of a structural deficit of $13.53 million projected for FY2027 alone. That number has been reduced through the work of town and school officials.
The town’s Long Range Planning Committee — made up of the school superintendent, the town manager, members of the Select Board, School Committee, Finance Committee, and other town professionals — has been meeting and is looking at an override of about $14.9 million that would fund the town and schools for at least three years.
This report, published on Jan. 27, will be updated.
