By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Better late than never.
A week after delaying a recommendation on a proposed $5 million Proposition 2 ½ override for fiscal year 2026, the Select Board unanimously voted during Monday’s meeting to bring a scaled down $4,650,000 override to Spring Town Meeting on Tuesday, April 29.
“The override will fund a balanced budget as was proposed at the March 31 public hearing,” said Select Board Chair Dick Dalton. “The budget will address the 11 percent increase in the School Department’s operating budget. It will provide $650,000 for school technology, as requested by the School Committee.”
Dalton also said the proposed $4.65 million override would restore $149,984 that would be cut from the Senior Center’s budget if the override fails. He also said the override would restore $261,318 that would be cut from the Lynnfield Public Library’s budget if the override is defeated.
Town Administrator Rob Dolan informed the Villager that the proposed $4.65 million override would result in an average annual $898 tax impact on a house assessed at $1,045,013.
Finance Committee Chair Tom Kayola said he supported the proposed $4.65 million override.
“I think it is an important step forward in funding town services for the coming fiscal year,” said Kayola. “It accomplishes a lot. It restores funding to the library to keep it above the MAR (Municipal Appropriation Requirement), which is the important step for receiving Massachusetts’ certification. This budget also allows for the town to fund non-school department contracts that have just been executed.”
Kayola said the proposed $4.65 million override would fund the School Department’s recommended $34,196,514 operating budget for FY26, which is an 11 percent increase over FY25’s $30,806,245 appropriation.
“It allows us to retain and attract top talent in our classrooms that we all find important,” said Kayola.
Kayola also noted that the override includes $650,000 for school technology upgrades and replacements.
“It provides a jumpstart on the technology ask that they have laid out in their five-year program,” said Kayola.
School Committee Chair Kristen Grieco Elworthy also expressed her support for the proposed $4.65 million override.
“The School Committee has not met to discuss this in full, but I can say that this budget as presented does support the budget that we recommended to you, which was unanimous on our committee,” said Elworthy. “That includes both our FY26 operating budget request and our ($650,000) capital budget request. We appreciate that. This will fulfill those needs that we have recommended for FY26. We have also provided the Select Board with our financial picture for the next several years, both operationally and capital to the best ability that we can considering we still have the LTA (Lynnfield Teachers Association) contract outstanding.”
Dolan said he “fully supports the changes made to the proposed budget.”
“We know that this process has been really hard, and it should be really hard,” said Dolan. “We have had some disagreements, ups and downs and different opinions, but I think we are all united in a budget that is going to maintain an incredibly strong school system, a strong library and a strong Senior Center. It solidifies the financial strength of the whole town moving forward.”
Director Abby Porter said she reduced the Lynnfield Public Library’s operating budget as a permanent reduction.
“Certification through the state is very complicated, but as long as we do hit that $995,882, we will be certified,” said Porter.
Finance Director/Town Accountant David Castellarin said two budgets will be presented to Spring Town Meeting, a spending plan that will include massive cuts to the School Department, Lynnfield Public Library and Senior Center and a separate budget that will include the $4.65 million override.
“Our goal was to get this budget to where we could, override what was palatable to the town and restore all of the services,” said Castellarin. “We have pretty much done that.”
Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin informed the Villager that the Senior Center’s chef will not be eliminated in FY26, but the chef’s hours will be reduced and he will be cooking five meals a week.
Dalton recalled during the meeting that the Senior Center is currently offering four meals a week, two of which are take-out.
“We are going to five meals in-house,” said Dalton. “People can take-out food, but it will be available for them to be there so they can sit down and socialize, which is the intent of a Senior Center. We are also going to be reintroducing the Friday morning breakfast, which was very popular. We will be doing that once a month. While they are going through a budget cut in dollars, we are actually improving the service there.”
If voters approve the override for FY26, Castellarin said the town will be in a good financial position in the next fiscal year as well as FY27. He said the override, coupled with new growth from the Willis Brook at Lynnfield over-55 development near the Sagamore Spring Golf Club, would allow the town to have a surplus in FY27 that would would allow the School Department to have 4 percent budget increases in FY27 and FY28.
“In FY28, we will see a decline in new growth as Sagamore winds down,” added Castellarin. “Keeping the same assumptions of 4 percent for schools and 3 percent for town departments, we would be looking at a deficit of $814,000.”
Castellarin said the projected deficit for FY28 does not include $200,000 for two career firefighter positions that are currently being funded the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to improve response times overnight. Dolan originally proposed funding those positions in the override due to ongoing budget cuts at the federal level, but that plan has been nixed from the revised proposal.
Additionally, Castellarin also said the projected FY28 deficit does not factor in the Department of Public Works’ next trash collection contract, which is projected to increase between $800,000 and $1 million.
“This should last us through two years,” said Castellarin about the $4.65 million override proposal. “These are assumptions and they always change.”
Finance Committee member Brian Moreira thanked the Select Board for “providing more transparency into what we are seeing for an override.”
“I want to make it clear that I fully support the override,” said Moreira. “It is much-needed.”
Moreira noted that the $4.65 million proposal is a “level-services override.” He recalled that a number of principals requested positions that were not funded in the School Department’s recommended FY26 spending plan. He asked how the positions would be funded in FY27 and FY28.
Dalton said Moreira should ask the School Committee that question. He anticipates that the School Department will be receiving 4 percent budget increases in FY27 and FY28.
“I would assume that is covering whatever they think is important,” said Dalton.
Moreira said, “It sounds like the 4 percent is for salaries, not for added staff that was requested.”
“That is an assumption you are making,” said Dalton in response.
Moreira disagreed.
“Perhaps, but I am asking for clarity,” said Moreira. “It doesn’t sound like there isn’t any on that side of the table.”
Dalton was not happy with Moreira’s accusation.
“There is clarity,” said Dalton. “The schools have asked for 4 percent, and that is what we are giving them.”
Moreira asked if the Select Board would be “open” to approving another override in either FY27 or FY28.
“Of course we are because we are laying it out that there is going to be a deficit (in FY28),” said Dalton. “Isn’t that being open to it?”
Several LTA members expressed their support for the $4.65 million override, and advocated for salary increases for the district’s paraprofessionals.
Lynnfield High School Differentiated Learning Program (DLP) teacher Christine Hebert said she has worked with 12 paraprofessionals in her special education classroom over the past decade.
“While three have left to pursue careers as special education teachers, a transition I have always celebrated, the other nine left because they could no longer afford to remain in their roles due to the low pay,” said Hebert.
Hebert stressed that, “It is imperative that we offer competitive and equitable wages to ensure that we can recruit and retain skilled paraprofessionals who are essential to the success of our students.”
Elliott Road resident Barbara Camann said it is “somewhat discouraging” that the library and Senior Center’s FY26 operating budgets would only be partially restored if the override passes. She said the library has “taken many hits” over the past 18 months, including townspeople rejecting the new library project in the fall of 2023 and the library renovation project in early January.
“Our library is not a want, it is a need,” said Camann. “The surrounding communities of Wakefield, Reading and Danvers support their public library. Is Lynnfield trying to tell us something that libraries are not valuable, that they don’t contribute something to our community and it’s okay to have a library that is basically a building with a collection that cannot keep up with current trends and lose its accreditation?”
Camann, who works at the library as a circulation substitute, said a reference librarian recently helped a 15-year-old teenager find a book in a different library.
“This is not a unique experience,” said Camann. “It happens frequently. The override thankfully will restore this service. Yet, our library will continue to struggle with cuts in other areas such as books and materials, staff and operating hours. We were told so many times that our request for a new building was a want, not a need. Our building is crumbling, yet we go to work every day with a smile on our face to serve the Lynnfield community.”
If the override does not pass, Reference Head Librarian Patricia Kelly said the library “will lose two-thirds of our staff.”
“Out of 24 staff members, 15 will be gone,” said Kelly. “Our hours will be decreased exponentially. Our patrons will not be able to get materials from other libraries or other types of service from other libraries. The impact is real.”
Friends of the Lynnfield Library President Jeana Tecci said the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ (MBLC) budget has been cut in Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed FY26 state budget. She also said that the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ budget has been significantly reduced at the federal level.
“That has a huge devastating effect for libraries,” said Tecci. “And without the override, it would be devastating for our town. I am so grateful that an override budget would keep the certification, but it is still a loss for the library and it has an impact.”
Dalton thanked all of the speakers for “telling their stories.”
Select Board Vice Chair Phil Crawford thanked Elworthy for answering some of his questions about the School Department’s proposed FY26 spending plans.
“I appreciate it,” said Crawford. “That is one of the reasons why everything is lined up now the way we want.”
After the public participation portion of the meeting ended, the Select Board unanimously approved the FY26 budget that does not include the $4.65 million override and a separate budget that includes the override appropriation.