WHITMAN – An elderly woman unable to afford false teeth was on the minds of voters on both sides of the Proposition 2.5 override discussion at Town Meeting, on Monday, May 5.
In the end, the 191 registered voters, approved by a 148-66 margin, a one-year, $2 million override to fund town departments as well as the schools, in a consolidated budget – and, in part, to ensure programs and services senior citizens depend on continue, even as those on fixed incomes expressed their worry about affording the override.
Those who voted yes explained why that woman’s plight was as much on their minds as it was for those who voted no because they also lived on fixed incomes, or were allies of those with limited means. Others agreed with her.
“In the grand scheme of things, $2 million doesn’t sound like a lot,” said Ed Winnett of Raynor Avenue. “But I can tell you, when you go to the Council on Aging and you become a senior and you’re on a fixed income, that little amount makes a big difference.”
He recalled one woman at the override forum held there, who rose to say, “‘I have no teeth,’ and she showed us she has no teeth, because she can’t afford it,” he recalled, asking people to consider the lot of others. “Today you may not see it, but I guarantee you. When you hit that age, you’re going to feel the impact.”
School Committee member and former Finance Committee member, Rosemary Hill thanked Winett for his compassion for others and agreed the town should be careful of how money is spent, as she recalled the discussion at the override forum at the Council on Aging.
“What would be the impact if we don’t pass the override and we make these cuts?” she said. “It may not lead to the savings that you think. … Cutting the school budget could risk a financial spiral of sorts.”
She pointed to the $90,000 increase, to $1.5-plus million, that Whitman residents have to pay toward Charter School reimbursements – an increase not approved by our budget, but is a state requirement –which have increased 200 percent over the past seven years. State charter school aid the district receives is temporary, she said.
“[Local public schools at a cost of $18,000 per student] are the best value in education,” Hill said. “We are the most effective, most accountable and most connected to the community, and yet we’re being the ones being told to cut again. When we cut programs, families look elsewhere and every time a student leaves, we send more money out of district.”
The potential cost of cuts to other departments were also pointed out.
Retiree Rick Anderson, who also has 35 years’ experience in municipal finance, said the current crisis was predictable and, for the most part, preventable.
“We stood before you last year and said the override presented at that time was not the best patch forward,” he said of his role as FinCom chair at the 2024 Town Meeting. “More long-term projections and involvement from all town departments was needed to present a financial plan for the future.”
Town Meeting listened and agreed, he said, adding he has watched that collaboration and cooperation happening over the past eight months.
“We are at a time when we have to make the difficult decision to raise our levy capacity to maintain the basic services we all depend upon,” Anderson said, urging support of the override in the best interests of the town’s future.
Some voters asked what guarantee there was that the town would not return in the near future for more overrides or about specific tax impacts on their homes.
Select Board member Justin Evans said that, while projections show a potential gap of $400,000 to $500,000 in fiscal 2027, and “the following year would look a little bit worse,” the town is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel between retirement of the Plymouth County retirement assessment payoff ahead that would open up a lot o capacity in the general fund after 2030.
“It may be necessary for another override to close those 2028-29 years, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel and we’re getting some good news on some of the capital projects as well,” he said.
Finance Chair Kathleen Ottina said there were several compelling reasons why her committee recommended that plan as a way to instill trust with the voters, who would know what to expect from a yes vote and while they know what revenue will be for fiscal 2026, projections for 2027 and 2028 are just that.
Carter explained the $372.66 a year on the average home assessed at $496,000.
Another voter said that change – of about 77 cents per $1,000 of assessed value – would be used to help all town departments including the Council on Aging.
“It’s also going to help pay for the fire department with ambulances, so if you’re an older person, you want those things,” she said. “If you don’t have such a large, expensive home it’s not going to be as dramatic a change for you, but you still want t have those services [the Council on Aging and the police and the fire [departments] and the ambulances – its seems like that’s important for everyone.”
“It’s not just a school override,” said Marshall Ottina of Lazell Street. “Look at the impact across the board – we’re looking at fire shifts lost, police shifts lost, services lost at the Council on Aging, the library, veterans’ service officer – there’s something that impacts almost everyone in this room, probably multiple departments impact everyone in this room.”
Resident John Galvin, however, cautioned that without seeking a three-year override that was originally proposed, is “not sustainable.”
“I’m in favor of an override, but we need an override that gets the job done,” he said. “This one doesn’t.”
Budget worksheets with detailed breakdowns of each department’s budget were made available, but Town Moderator Michael Seele stressed that the meeting would be voting on the budget and it’s 35 line lines contained in the warrant itself. He also announced his intention to complete work on all 53 articles before adjourning the Town Meeting, and once again achieved that goal.
With the passage of the override article by a vote of 148-68, putting it before the voters at the Saturday, May 17 annual election, Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter moved to take articles 18 and 19 out of order, which allowed the transfer of $200,000 to Plymouth County Retirement [see below] and $140,000 to the town’s OPEB unfunded liability, which were directly related to budget lines in Article 2, to which they moved on, followed by the rest of the articles.
Had the override article failed, Carter said, she was ready to move to take non-financial articles 9 through 14 and 49 through 51 out of order for votes before moving to adjourn Town Meeting until June 11.
Ottina said the budget document was the result of a year of collaboration and communication among all town government parties, beginning last August, with discussions about the potential need for an override to bridge a deficit of just under $2 million spanning one year. The FinCom made that recommendation following an hour-long discussion on March 25.
“The reason for voting the more conservative, one-year override is we believed it maintained transparency and accountability with the Fiscal 2026 funding sources solidly in place, and would have a higher chance of being passed by the voters,” Ottina said.
After all those discussions and three public forums, there were still questions on the minds of some voters, while others voiced their opinions for or against it. But before that happened, former Selectman Brian Bezanson moved to use a secret paper ballot for the vote.
“There may be plenty of people here who may be for it or against it, but they feel intimidated and there are empty seats here, probably for that reason,” Bezanson said in making his motion. A standing counted vote yielded a vote of 134 to 80, against a secret ballot despite the fact that some who eventually voted in favor of the override, also voted against a secret ballot.
Town officials outlined the work ahead and thate they hoped to see during debate at the outset of the Town Meeting.
“For a lot of years … I couldn’t stand the Finance Committee,” Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said, looking back on his years of service on both the School Committee and Select Board. “They always seemed to be in the way of how I thought the town should spend its money. The sea change this year, with this Finance Committee and with this Board of Selectmen, they worked together in concert to come up with a plan that we think is going to be the best for the town – or at least give the voters the opportunity to vote what they think is best for the town.
“That’s different,” he said. “It’s different. It’s a good feeling, to know there’s commonality there.”
Kowalski also noted that, through diligent work, the per-pupil budgeting at W-H had climbed from the bottom 10 percent among state school districts in per-pupil spending, to the bottom 20 percent.
He reminded the Town Meeting that a survey of residents as part of the work behind the Madden report on funding town departments sustainably ad determining which departments Whitman residents valued, three – including public schools, public safety and public works – scored high. This year, senior services may have joined them.
You’ll see that we are low, in terms of [our] tax rate, compared to surrounding towns, Kowalski said.
“Hope we keep that in mind,” he said, while reminding them that Whitman voters have always been generous when times were tough.
“This town does it when it has to,” he said. “And that’s the spirit I would like to end with today.”
Carter told the meeting that every vote they cast Monday, and at the ballot box on Saturday, May 17, will help to guide the town’s path forward.
She outlined the new policy for free cash the town is now using.
Besides its traditional use as a source of funding for capital improvements; 10 percent of free cash will now be allocated to the capital stabilization fund; 10 percent of the remaining balance will be allocated to the general stabilization fund to build town reserves; an annual minimum transfer from free cash of $200,000 to Article 2, line 35: Plymouth County Retirement Expense until that unfunded liability is paid in full (within five to seven years); and a minimum of $140,000 annually to Article 2, line 34: other Post-employment Benefits unfunded liability.
The 2025 warrant articles were taken in the order of – following Article 1 and prior year articles – Article 8, the override article, out of order.
“I encourage respectful discussion and active participation as we work together to ensure that Whitman remains a great place to live,” Carter said.
Whitman has 14,497 residents and 11,997 voters, with only 266 residents in attendance – about 2.2 percent – and only 1,771 residents voted in last year’s town election – about 14.75 percent.
“The major decisions we make as a town, both our annual Town Meeting and our annual Town Election are made by a relatively small number of voters,” Carter said, encouraging residents to vote May 17.