Hatfield Approves FY2023 Budget, Warns Override Likely Needed Next Year

HATFIELD -- April 26, 2022, Hatfield Select Board approves FY2023 budget and town meeting warrant, with an override warning. Meeting jointly with the Finance Committee, the board voted unanimously to approve a budget that comes in roughly $64,000 under the levy limit only by drawing on approximately $180,000 in water and sewer retained earnings and $1.147 million in free cash, one-time resources that Finance Committee Chair Daryl said will not be available next year. "This will work this year but this will not work next year," he told the board, adding that a Proposition 2½ operating override will be necessary to sustain current levels of police, fire, ambulance, school, and public works services. The board set annual town meeting for May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Smith Academy with a quorum of 75, approved a contingent $375,000 offer to purchase land on Jericho Road using community preservation funds, and endorsed a $350,000 borrowing article for a small pumper truck for the North Hatfield fire station. The 43-article warrant also includes a debt exclusion question for a $12 million sewer plant replacement, a facility described as 35 years into a 20-year equipment lifespan, which would require both town meeting approval and a subsequent ballot vote.