ORANGE — Those in attendance at Special Town Meeting on Monday, June 29, will be asked to appropriate an additional $200,000 to fund the town’s assessment to the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District.
Eighty-seven Annual Town Meeting voters overwhelmingly rejected the town’s fiscal year 2027 assessment to Mahar on May 11, in hopes that the requested $5.2 million figure might be reduced by $200,000. But the district’s other member towns of New Salem, Wendell and Petersham adopted their assessments, meaning the Mahar budget, totaling $15.8 million, has been ratified in accordance with the regional agreement that was established in the 1950s. The agreement requires a two-thirds majority for budget ratification.
According to Town Administrator Matthew Fortier, adoption of the Special Town Meeting’s lone warrant article would approve Orange’s assessment at $5.2 million and bring the town’s FY27 budget to nearly $29.3 million, which represents a decrease of just over $10,000 from the current fiscal year.
“So, Monday’s business is to see if the town will appropriate the extra $200,000 to fully fund the school,” he explained. “It’s not a doomsday scenario if we can’t do it on Monday, but we do only have a few months to fix the problem.”
The regional agreement has drawn the ire of Orange officials and residents, as their town carries roughly 75% to 80% of the regional district’s apportioned costs. Orange is also the least wealthy community in the district and, therefore, has the least ability to pay for education. Some have blamed the agreement for the town’s budget woes in recent years.
The Orange Selectboard has established a five-member ad hoc committee to develop potential amendments to the agreement.
According to Fortier, adoption of the warrant article would leave approximately $3,750 in free cash to be carried forward, would maintain department budgets at previously approved levels and would not impact stabilization accounts.
The Special Town Meeting is scheduled to begin in Town Hall’s Ruth B. Smith Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Monday.
