To borrow a time-tested phrase, “it takes a community” to overcome the budget challenges that municipalities encounter in a world of rising costs, inadequate revenues and sluggish state aid.

And so it is in Orange, where a collaborative, community-first effort is needed to address the town’s budget crisis and maintain an appropriate financial commitment to Mahar Regional School.

This saga focuses on the fiscal 2027 budget process beginning to unfold. The crux of the issue is the delicate balance to be struck between adequately funding police, fire and other essential municipal services while paying an affordable assessment for education at Mahar.

With final budget decisions months away, a lot of work lies ahead. Town and school officials — along with the voters who wield ultimate power to decide the Orange
budget — will be best served if everyone works together.

An important step in that direction can come at the Nov. 13 Mahar School Committee meeting, when the 11 members are expected to consider a budget-limiting resolution sent their way by the Board of Selectmen.

The budget dilemma involving the town and Mahar has been building for years. Everything came to a head at Orange’s annual Town Meeting in June. Voters were put in the unenviable position of approving a 12.8%, $673,000 increase in the Orange assessment from Mahar. The meeting also voted to use virtually all available free cash ($768,000) to balance the town budget.

Those hard decisions were driven by a variety of factors — a failed override, inflationary costs, insufficient revenues, a larger Mahar budget, and the regional school district budget approval process dictated by state law.

Soon after Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen — staring at a financial
emergency that many believe threatens the town’s solvency and future — appointed an
ad hoc committee to formulate recommendations to help bring the Mahar budget under
control.

The situation grew more dire when Orange, like other area towns, learned of a mid-year hike in health insurance costs. The unexpected $336,000 increase upped the ante surrounding the Mahar budget, prompting town officials to call for a decrease of at least $800,000 to $1 million in next year’s assessment.

The ad hoc committee recently sent the Board of Selectmen a menu of budget-controlling recommendations. While taking proposals to amend the Mahar regional agreement under advisement for now, the board voted in favor of a recommendation to request a budget limiting resolution be placed before the school committee.

The resolution targets a net school spending metric familiar to education officials. It aims to reduce the fiscal 2027 Orange assessment – and assessments to New Salem, Petersham and Wendell — by limiting how much Mahar can spend above the minimum net school spending requirement set by the state education department.

This fiscal year, Mahar’s actual net school spending is $5 million (or 52%) above required net school spending. It is common for regional school districts, particularly those serving students in grades 7-12 and with high special education costs like Mahar, to be 50%, 60%, 70%, or even 80% above minimum required net school spending.

Comparisons with similarly structured districts are instructive. But the towns paying the preponderance of costs in higher-spending districts tend to be wealthier than Orange. And it is a safe bet that none are navigating such a crippling financial crisis.

The resolution is designed to establish firm town expectations regarding the fiscal 2027 Mahar budget. It asks the School Committee to limit the percentage above required net school spending to not more than 40%.

If a 40% limit had been in place this year, it would have meant a $1.2 million reduction in Mahar’s actual spending. That would have given Orange, which pays 79% of the district’s apportioned costs, a $967,000 decrease in its assessment. New Salem would have gotten a $60,000 decrease, Petersham $107,000, and Wendell $89,000.

The hope is that the School Committee takes the resolution to heart and ultimately adopts a fiscal 2027 Mahar budget that meets quality education requirements and is deemed responsible and affordable by town officials and the voting public.

Should that not happen, the Board of Selectmen promises a serious push for Orange to withdraw from the Mahar district. But that is a story for another day. For right now, it will take a community-minded decision from the Mahar School Committee on Nov. 13 to help get Orange’s finances on track.

Chris Woodcock is chair of the Mahar ad hoc committee appointed by the Orange
Board of Selectmen. He previously served 35 years as town moderator.